Pirates of the Caribbean: The Unwanted Past
by ta1nt3d1uv
Summary: Post CotBP. Jack and Will are back with some unexpected guests from Jack's past and a new challenge that cannot be defeated, except by those who already know how to defeat it. Rated M for a lot of violence. Final chapter up! by JR
1. Surprise, Surprise!

Chapter One – Surprise, Surprise!

It was a normal day, just like any other for Will Turner. He had just left the blacksmith's shop, the one he now owned, with one thought on his mind: his beautiful bride-to-be. He walked past the docks on his way to the small home they shared. He looked to the sea. He missed it; he missed the freedom, the adventure, of life on a ship. To his surprise, he even missed Captain Jack Sparrow, who had inadvertently brought him and his fiancée together. It had been over a year since he and Elizabeth had last seen Jack. Every so often they would receive a letter from the captain. Although they were short and few and far apart, he still remained a friend to Will and Elizabeth. The news of the governor's daughter's engagement had spread fast, and had traveled all the way to Jack. Will and Elizabeth had even talked of inviting him to the wedding, whose date was still undecided.

"Home at last," Will sighed relief before opening the door to his abode. "Elizabeth, I'm home," he announced gleefully as he moved to set his axe on the stand by the door. He paused. The silence froze him to his core. Every day when he returned home she would greet him with a kiss, and dinner would be ready on the kitchen table. He entered the kitchen with a firm grip on his axe. Sure enough, dinner was prepared on the table. Two places had been set with plates and silverware, and two glasses of wine had been poured. One was only half full. Will searched the rest of the house calling for Elizabeth, and then finally made his way into their bedroom. He saw her lying on the bed with her back to the door, apparently asleep.

"Elizabeth? What are you doing still abed?" He set his axe on the wooden dresser, and then walked over to the bed and shook her shoulder. When there was no response, he turned her over to see a strange symbol etched into her forehead, although the rest of her face was cut and destroyed to the point of being unable to recognize her.

"Oh God, Elizabeth-" There was a knock at the door. He tore his eyes away from the bed. In a panic he backed out of the room and stumbled down the hallway to the door, just as it opened.

"'Ello, miss me? Where's that beautiful fiancée of yours?"

Will was speechless and pale as a ghost. It was Jack. He hadn't changed much since the last time Will had seen him. Jack looked around the foyer and then back at Will, who hadn't moved an inch. The captain wondered why Will looked so distraught.

"Was I interrupting something? If you two need fifteen minutes to-"

"No, she's – Jack," Will followed him as he walked down the hall to the bedroom. Jack was startled when he saw what lay on the bed.

"Who did this?" he questioned, almost in a whisper.

"You think if I knew I would still be here?" Will said, fury apparent in his voice. Something had caught the captain's eye. Jack went to the side of the bed and knelt down. On the floor was a knife, the handle sticking out from under the bed. He pulled the knife out from under the bed and examined it. It was covered in blood, but it was quite beautiful; it had several jewels on the handle and was double bladed.

"They dropped the knife," Will said, thinking. Maybe the killer had been startled and dropped it when Will walked in the house, and then escaped through the back door.

"No," Jack put the knife down and stood, angry. "It was left here on purpose. He wants us to find him." He said to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's track down the culprit," Jack stuttered, very unlike himself. Will grabbed a bag and put a few of his belongings into it. "Tortuga?"

"Tortuga."

-----

Sparrow and Turner entered the same bar they were at one year before. They took a seat in the corner and waited in silence until a young woman, about twenty years old, brought a couple drinks over to them.

"Thirsty, boys?" she smiled. Jack looked at her. The girl had long, chestnut brown hair, milky white skin with a hint of tan, and gorgeous hazel eyes, easy to lose yourself in. He knew her.

"Rachel? I thought you were dead,"

"Ah, but I'm not." She took a seat by him.

"And as charming as ever. Will, meet Rae. Rae, this is dear William," Jack introduced his friends. "She is, by far, the best pirate in the world, female or otherwise." Rae smiled and Jack held her gaze for a moment.

"Hello William. You wouldn't be William Turner by any chance, would you?" she asked politely.

"I am." He replied without hesitation.

"I've heard of your father. He sounded like a good man. Jack told me about him when he helped me out when I was younger. Of course, Jack was younger then too," she smirked at them.

"Yes, weren't we all though?" Jack took a swig of his drink. "I thought you died when the ship sank,"

"I'm here now. That's all that matters, isn't it? So Jack, what brings you to Tortuga?"

"We need a crew. We're going after the man who murdered his fiancée. All we have to go on is a description of the killer's knife, double bladed with a jeweled handle. Quite a beautiful blade actually," he said, keeping eye contact with her.

"My ship is at the docks," she said at once. "I've got a crew and everything,"

"To the ship then, love."

-----

"She's really a beauty. Her name is The Contentious," Rae spoke with pride. "Oh! Shiny, that ought to be worth some money." She dove to pick up a necklace off the dock, bumping heads with another who just happened to be doing the same.

"Hey! That's mine!" Rae grabbed the necklace from the girl.

"I saw it first!" The young woman pulled a pistol from her belt and aimed it at Rachel.

"Who do you think you are?"

"Awfully bold for a woman such as yourself to ask," the girl spoke.

Rae sighed and raised her own pistol. "That's not very nice."

"I'm not very nice." The young woman narrowed her eyes at Rae.

"I can see that."

"So hand it over," the girl held her free hand out to accept the necklace. Rachel kicked the pistol out of the woman's hand. Will drew his sword between the two women.

"Rae, we must get going, now."

"As long as she doesn't attempt taking my precious again, which I saw first." She glared at the young woman and pocketed the necklace. She looked towards her ship, one of the three that were at the pier. "Let's go."

Jack looked over the stranger before boarding the ship with Rae and Will. The woman put her pistol away and secretly followed.


	2. Savvy?

Chapter Two – Savvy

The young woman walked down the deck of The Contentious. Though she looked very much like a pirate, her step was that of a proper lady. Her clothes were faded and worn, dressed in a grayish blue corset and remnants of a skirt over her black pants. The skirt and top looked as though they had been very beautiful at one time. She was thin and a couple inches shorter than Rae, with long, dark brown hair, pale skin, and blue-gray eyes. She wandered down the deck for quite some time before seeing a member of the crew. Her sword clinked against her side as she approached the man, picking at his teeth with a knife.

"Tell me sir," she began. "Have you by any chance seen two men and a woman down this way?"

The man did nothing besides look at her for a brief moment and continue picking his teeth. She waited for his response, and repeated herself when she did not receive one.

"I asked you a question, have you seen-"

"There in't but one missy on this ship," he said, plainly.

"Then I suggest you tell me where she is if-"

He spit at her feet and grabbed her, holding his knife to her throat.

"What've ye got here? A girl, eh?" Another man approached, smirking with an almost amused expression at seeing the girl.

"I wasn't bothering anyone," she said, struggling against the man.

"Shut up." He told her. He held the knife firm against her throat, and the struggling ceased.

"Should we play with 'er a bit first? Inform the others?" the second man suggested. By now a few other crewmembers had taken notice of the stranger. They began to draw their weapons.

-----

Rae, Will, and Jack walked down the length of the deck on the opposite end of the ship as the girl. Rae appreciated the silence.

"We'll find him, torture him, and kill him. Then I shall hope he suffers in the depths of hell," Will's anger escalated as he broke the silence.

"He'll pay, Will," Rae gave him a reassuring smile as they walked down the deck. "Any suspects?" she asked casually.

"Quite sure," Jack kept his gaze ahead, seeming to be deep in thought.

-----

The crew stood in a circle around the man with his knife to the girl's throat.

"The captain won't be happy about this," she attempted to protest. The men laughed at her threats. In one swift move, she grabbed the man's arm and flipped him over onto his back on the deck, and pulled out her pistol. "Back away or I'll shoot," she looked around at the crew. When they failed to move, she fired the pistol, but the trigger seemed to be stuck. The men laughed once more. The man stood and punched her in the jaw. He grabbed her again and raised his knife to slit her throat. She gasped and yelled for help.

"CAPTAIN!"

Just as she yelled, a hand gripped the man's arm.

"Mr. Sparrow, she threatened the cap'n,"

Rae and Will stepped forward to the scene.

"Back to work!" Jack growled. The crew reluctantly returned to their places. He kept a hold of the pirate's arm and took his knife. "And you, mate, will do well to remember it is the captain who decides who, when, and where you will kill." The man nodded and went back to his place on the ship, mumbling under his breath. "Really bad egg, that one," Jack said, shaking his head.

Rae looked over the girl, "So we meet again,"

"Small world, isn't it?" The girl straightened herself and rubbed her neck where the knife had been. Jack kept his eyes on the girl.

"Do ye have a name, love?"

"Yes."

Jack smiled slightly, "If you'd be so kind as to share that with us,"

"Carly."

"Carly. How old are ye, Carly?"

"Nineteen."

"Captain's got two years on you then."

"I wasn't this stupid when I was that age," Rae said.

"Why are you here?" Will asked the girl.

"I followed you."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows and turned to Rae, "Well, at least she's honest,"

"Escort her off the ship won't you? We have yet to find Elizabeth's assassin," Will spoke.

"I'm well aware, and perhaps, Miss Carly here could be of some wild use to us."

"Keep her? Jack, don't you think that's the choice of a fool?" Rachel raised her eyebrows at him.

"Aye. And because I'm not a fool, it is not a fool's choice, but a foolish choice made by a dishonest man. Savvy? Still your choice though, love," he looked at Rae, leaving the decision up to her.

Rae looked at Will and Jack, before finally turning to Carly. "Welcome aboard The Contentious, Miss Carly."


	3. Here Be Monsters

Chapter Three – Here Be Monsters

"Carly, I don't entirely trust you, therefore you shall stay below deck," Rae spoke down to the pirate.

"Excuse me, I am not a prisoner, nor have I committed a crime against you or your crew. I think since I'm a guest on your ship I deserve better than to be sent down to the bilges, and besides that, I don't believe I've ever given you a reason to think that I am entirely dishonest. I think I'm very honest," she looked at Jack for support. "Tell her."

Rae sighed. "You do make a good point, however I am captain and what I say goes." She paused, and then added, "Besides, you snuck onto my ship without me knowing and started a fight with my crew. Go below deck, I said."

"Your crew nearly killed me!"

"Perhaps you didn't hear me,"

"I heard you just fine." Carly folded her arms across her chest, angry. Rae did the same.

"Well?" Rae said, waiting.

"Well what?"

"Go!"

"Where?"

Rae sighed, exasperated, "Jack, won't you please escort this fine lady below deck,"

Carly rolled her eyes at Rae's attempt at showing off her manners. Captain Sparrow nudged Carly's back and led her below deck.

-----

Rae opened one eye and closed it immediately. The bright light stung; the sun was directly overhead.

"Rise n' shine, love," Jack spoke from the helm to Rae, who had been asleep in a bundle of blankets near him.

"Mm, mornin'," she groaned, keeping her eyes tightly shut. She rolled over onto her stomach and pulled the blankets back over her head.

"She do this often?" Will asked, standing beside Jack.

"She never was a morning person, more of a night owl like meself."

Will nodded once and looked out at the sea, "So where to?"

"Ought to ask her," Jack nodded towards the sleeping captain. Will watched her.

"She looks so innocent,"

"Wait till she wakes, see her in real clothes. Believe me lad," Jack warned. Rachel began mumbling incoherently. Will thought he caught something about 'filthy pirates'. He turned to Jack, but Jack seemed to take no notice. Rachel sat up quickly, panting.

"Are you all right, m'lady?" Will kneeled at her side.

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't be so polite," Rae said, awkwardly. She struggled to regain her composure and went to the captain's quarters to change out of her nightdress and into her clothing.

-----

"T'is nice to have another woman aboard. One we don't have to respect," a gritty voice spoke. A few men laughed in the background. Carly opened her eyes to see the man reaching his hand towards her. She backhanded him across the face and stood, cursing at them under her breath.

"You filthy git."

-----

"How do I look?" Rae approached the helm, dressed in a dark green corset over a faded white shirt, and a black lace shawl tied around her waist over her pants. Jack distinctly looked her up and down. "Ugh!" Rachel playfully slapped him, pretending to be offended while he laughed.

"I think you look lovely," Will smiled at her.

"Thank you. You're much too kind William, you can't have learned that from Jack," she smiled. With the slamming of a door and stomping footsteps, Carly came storming up on deck.

"Unless you give me far more rum than even the drunkest man could want, I shall not be staying with your crew any more. They're despicable."

"What's wrong love?" Rachel laughed.

"First off, you'll do well not to call me 'love'. Secondly, I woke to one of your men grabbing at me, and the rest surrounding me like vultures that I'm more than sure were guilty of thinking things far beyond acceptable, although I suppose I shouldn't blame them since I'm quite sure they've never seen a real woman before." Carly fumed.

"Pardon?"

Carly glared at Rae and walked over to the rail. She looked down to the water and spotted a barrel with an odd symbol on it, floating in the water.

"There be land up that way," Jack stated.

"Yes, Corcova is the name of the city, that's where we be heading," Rae added. Will went to the side of the ship near Carly. The barrel caught his eye as well. He noticed the insignia printed on it, and recognized it.

"Lose a barrel?" Carly asked. He did nothing besides shake his head in response.

Rae went to Jack's side and whispered to him, "Will's terribly quiet,"

"Can't expect much more from him," he said.

"I know, but still,"

"Last time he was aboard a ship traveling to unknown land he had hoped to find her."

"Last time?"

"Remember the curse on the Black Pearl? Called herself a Turner and they kidnapped her, nearly died for him. Then bloody stupid Will nearly died for her. I thought we bonded."

"Interesting." Rachel thought.

Jack steered the vessel into the harbor. "Here be monsters."


	4. Skirmish

Chapter Four – Skirmish

"Monsters, eh? Good place for your crew then I think," Carly spoke airily to Rachel, helping to lower the anchor.

"You've hardly seen monsters, Carly," Rae glanced at the girl as the anchor plunged into the seawater.

-----

"Wonderful place it is, Corcova," Rae and the others walked inland from the pier.

"Awfully leafy, don't you think?" Carly looked at the jungle that lay ahead of them. The others ignored her.

"It'll be dark soon, better get a move on," Jack said, venturing into the jungle with Rae not far behind.

"Why're we here anyway?" she called after them, "No one said anything about a jungle,"

"Come on," Will took Carly's arm and followed the other two into the jungle.

A few hours had passed, and the moonlight illuminated the jungle floor beneath them in patches. The trees were beginning to thin, and the soft crunching of moist dirt and brush beneath everyone's feet was the only sound, besides Carly's incessant ranting.

"Are we almost there? I don't care for jungles, my sister and I got lost in one when we were young. I don't think you have any idea where you're going, I don't think there even is a city,"

"Can't we shut her up?" Rae whispered to Jack, hand on her pistol.

"Hold out a bit longer," Jack mumbled. Somehow he had managed to keep his cool through the past few hours of Carly's voice, which was growing even more annoying every minute.

"Are we there yet?" Carly asked.

"Is it possible for you to shut your hole for more than a breath?" Rae looked at Carly threateningly.

-----

They stepped foot into the city of Corcova to be greeted by the sounds of gunshots and laughing, accompanied by the welcoming smells of smoke and rum.

"And when he realized I finished the last bottle, he hit me across the face with it, so I grabbed him by the-"

"CARLY!"

She closed her mouth for the first time in hours, and looked at Captain Sparrow.

"Carly. Love ye to death dear, true or not. We've been so lucky as to be graced by your presence in a time of crisis and frustration only to be greeted by yet more crisis and frustration, and I'm sure with your tongue and flapping gums even a deaf man would be thoroughly annoyed, as are the rest of us."

"I should think you'd love stories, Captain Jack Sparrow, I'm sure you've many of them." She held his gaze for a moment before looking ahead at what was Corcova, a slight attitude in her voice.

They entered a particularly crowded and noisy tavern, though it seemed to be one of the less violent ones to pick from. Liquor bottles were being thrown across the room and shattering against walls, as well as drunken men being thrown onto tables and beaten. The lot made their way to an unoccupied table with a few drinks left on it. Will and Carly took their seats across from Jack and Rae.

"You never answered my question Miss Rae, why are we here?" Carly asked as she picked up a full cup.

"Captain Rae. You'll not forget that," Rae put an emphasis on the title 'Captain'.

"And so I should bring up the point that you left me with your filthy crew to be insulted and disrespected, as one would think I had been punished for a crime which I did not commit. It was, in fact, your crew that threatened me, and so I in turn threatened them out of self-defense. Therefore we're even and I shall address you as do Will and Mr. Sparrow, captain or not." Carly took a mouthful of her drink, keeping eye contact with Rae as if daring her to argue. Rae stood and drew her sword.

"You will address me as Captain, like my crew."

Carly set her cup down on the table, quite calmly. "You don't want to fight me, don't make a fool of yourself."

"I was taught by the best," Rae said to her, glancing at Jack, "The only one making a foolish choice here is you."

Carly stood and drew her sword as well. Without warning, Rae swung her sword fiercely at the girl. Carly ducked and swung back. Will and Jack watched the two girls as they fought.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" asked Will.

"Let them get it out of their systems." Jack held up his cup to make a toast, "To luck."

Will held up his cup as well, "To vengeance." They drank, and then returned their eyes to the sight of Rae and Carly, now swinging their swords madly at each other on a table.

"I should've killed you from the start!"

"Why would you have done that? You would have no entertainment for later, as well as no one to point out that your footwork could use a little improvement." Carly smiled and jumped off the table.

"As does your strategy, Miss Carly," Rae leapt off the table and kicked a chair at Carly. She stumbled and caught Rae's blade with her sword, just inches from her face. Rae swung again, determined to slice Carly in half. Jack and Will approached them.

"Ladies, if you'll be so kind as to hold off on the bickering till a later time, we'd better be on our way," Jack announced. They paid no notice to him and continued to fight, until Rae's sword was hit out of her grasp. Carly spoke, slightly out of breath, as was Rae, the two keeping their eyes on each other.

"We are not finished, Miss Rae."


	5. Caught

Chapter Five – Caught

"It is not 'Miss Rae' nor is it 'Rae' to you, you will call me Captain Rae and if you don't, I shall leave you lost in that jungle. You won't last long alone."

"What could possibly be so bad in that jungle? Monkeys?"

"There are far worse things than monkeys and such. Did you not hear Jack when he said 'here be monsters'? He spoke the truth, and you'd best remember it."

"I hardly believe there are monsters under my bed anymore, Miss Rae."

Rachel ignored her and turned to the others.

"We must be going now," she ordered, "Jack, you lead."

The four pirates made their way to the other side of the city where there was even more jungle. Rae followed in back, checking every so often to make sure no one was watching them. Their trip through this smaller patch of jungle was much more silent than the first, until there was a yelp from Rae and the sound of a branch snapping. The other three pirates spun around to see what the commotion was about.

"Ouch," Rae stood and began brushing herself off.

"Are you alright, m'lady?" Will asked, taking her hand.

"Yes, there was a stick. Tripped, not fun," she smiled at him, slightly embarrassed.

"You might as well have fallen and had Mr. Turner's lips catch you, Miss Rae."

Rae stared at Carly in disbelief, "Once again, you shall address me as 'Captain Rae'."

"I'll address you as Jack and Will do."

"No, you won't. Jack has been my friend since I was fifteen; Will is his friend. You, however, are nobody. We don't know you, and I personally don't want to."

"Fine." Carly turned from Rae. She walked ahead of the group out into a clearing at the edge of the jungle towards an immense brown and white mansion. The mansion was enclosed in a rusted iron gate and guarded at the entrance by a tall, well-built man who had a scar across his face that ran from his eye down to his mouth.

"Stop!" Rae screamed to her. Carly looked back at them, and when she turned back around the man stood before her. Jack pushed Rae and Will into the dark behind a tree. Rae looked around his shoulder to watch.

"Well, what do we have here?" the man's deep voice spoke.

"What does it look like?" Carly rested her hands on her hips.

"And what is a fine lady such as yourself doing out here?" the man asked.

"I don't believe that's any of your business,"

The man laughed and grabbed her by the shoulders, throwing her face-first into the iron gate as if she weighed nothing. She collapsed onto the ground after hitting the iron with her forehead, which now throbbed.

"Rae! Jack! Will?" she shouted with her eyes tightly shut, but there was no one there to help. She hadn't expected their help, but tried again anyway. "Jack Sparrow!"

The man smirked as Carly began to get up on her hands and knees. He pulled her to her feet by her arm, twisting it behind her back as he did so, and dragged her through the entrance of the iron gate. Two other guards approached from the closest corner of the gate and began patting Carly down. They took the belt that held her sword and pistol, leaving her defenseless.

"Take her to Captain Snarl," the man that had held her arm growled. The two men clutched onto her arms as she struggled to get away until one held his knife to her neck, forcing her to be taken away into the mansion without a fight.

Will watched as Carly was dragged away, wondering why neither Rae nor Jack had tried to help her. "What's going on? You know where to go, you obviously know who we are looking for. So why have you been pretending that you had no clue? Why did you both act like you didn't know anything? Why did you let Carly be taken away, what are you hiding?" he asked them.

"It's not that simple, Will. We have a history with the man who killed your fiancée. I suspect that is why she was killed – he knew you were friends with Jack. When I was fifteen, Captain Snarl, the man who killed Elizabeth, kidnapped me and killed my mother. We were on a ship. My mother was a maid for my father who took no responsibility for me; everybody had affairs with their servants but nobody spoke of it. I was on Snarl's ship for a few days. He raped me several times, and Jack eventually saved me," she said, and looked down.

"I'm so sorry," Will took her hand.

"It's not your fault," she said. She and Will briefly hugged.

"We need to get moving. We have Carly to save now as well," Jack stated.

"Don't remind me," Rachel sighed and walked out into the clearing. They walked up to the gate and stopped in front of the guard.

"Stop there. Who are you?" he questioned.

"Surely you remember me. Rachel Klaison, it was a while ago."

"Aye, remember you I do."

"You have something we want."

"Multiple things actually," Jack corrected her.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," the guard recognized him immediately. "Captain Snarl been waitin' for ye." He whistled and three guards came from the mansion doors. One man began to take the belt that held Rachel's weapons. She kicked him in the stomach and grabbed her sword. She stabbed the guard with her sword, and stabbed the first man as well. Jack and Will finished off the remaining two guards.

"Hurry, the rest will have heard!" Rachel ordered. They ran into the mansion through the tall iron doors. They went down a hallway to the left of the foyer. There were torches and candles hanging every few feet along the walls, lighting their way and casting shadows around them. Several pairs of footsteps could be heard rushing around a corner, and the three pirates hurried into a room to their left.

Rachel looked around the room. It was very big and dark, lit only by four candles that sat in pairs at either end of a table on the left side of the room, and a fireplace on the wall opposite the door. To the right was a large bed, covered in deep purple silk blankets. She turned away from the bed and looked down. Will saw this and put his arm around her while Jack closed the door.

A few minutes later, Rae looked up at Will and kissed him. He willingly embraced the kiss, and Jack looked away from them and into the fireplace. It was almost as if he had a hurt look in his eyes, and then he sighed. It was nice to see Will and Rae happy, he thought to himself – even if he wasn't.


	6. Escape

Chapter Six – Escape

The three pirates wandered around the halls once more for what seemed like ages, searching for Carly and listening intently for any sounds leading to her whereabouts. Rachel pushed open the door to a room, peeking inside before walking farther in. Jack and Will followed the captain's lead. In the middle of the room was a square table covered with a deep burgundy cloth, on which sat a candle and a bottle of rum. There was also a closet with a fireplace next to it. Rae went over to the closet across the room, hesitated for a moment, and then quickly opened the door. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, gagging from the smell.

"What is it?" Will hurried over. She pointed to a body hanging from a rope around its neck in the closet. The face had been beaten so it was unable to be recognized. "Carly." Will put his arms around Rae and she buried her face in his chest. Jack went to the closet.

"No. This has been here for days." He said, closing the closet door.

"We need to find Carly." Will said. The three of them froze, just as they had begun to start towards the door. A faint whistling could be heard from the hallway outside the room. Jack turned to Rae.

"In the closet."

"What?"

"Go!"

"Jack – "

Captain Snarl entered the room. "Looking for something?" His voice was low and that of a killer. He had long, black hair, which was mostly pulled into a ponytail at the back of his head. The rest of his hair fell forward over his ears, and from them hung earrings made of sharp animal teeth. He looked to be about Jack's age and very muscular, with a sallow-looking complexion and piercing blue eyes.

"Actually we were just leaving, mate," Jack spoke, stepping in front of Rae and Will.

"So soon? I was hoping you'd stay. After all, it has been quite a few years since I last seen ye."

"How time flies." Jack drew his sword. Captain Snarl smirked as if it was a joke.

"Are you sure you want to be doing that, Sparrow?"

"No. But you don't leave me much of a choice."

"Your loss." Snarl smiled. Without warning and with one swift move, he drew his sword and swung at Jack. Will stood in front of Rae, protecting her as they watched the two fight. Jack caught Snarl's sword with his blade, not far from his neck.

"Go!" Jack shouted, "Let me handle this!" he ducked as Snarl swung his sword again.

"But Jack – " Rachel protested.

"Will! Get her out of here," Jack ordered as his sword was hit out of his grasp and flew across the floor. Will took Rae's arm and hurried towards the door with her while she continued to object.

"Will please, I'd rather stay and help him!"

Will grabbed the sword from the floor and threw it to Jack. Jack caught the sword and immediately spun around to face Snarl, blocking his blade again. The swords clashed against each other and went flying across the room, Snarl's blade narrowly missing Will and Rae.

"Now we can go." Rae said, and hurried out of the room with Will.

"We should find Carly," Will looked at Rae.

"We can't leave Jack."

Snarl and Jack recaptured their swords and fought their way over towards the window across the room. Snarl swung fiercely at Jack, stabbing the window instead and shattering the glass. He grabbed a fistful of Jack's shirt and held the top half of his body out the window, ready to drop him, a fall that would surely kill him.

"Sooner or later you will have to face the truth, Sparrow. I always win."

Jack kept a firm grip on his sword as Snarl began to let go of his shirt and drop him out the window, and hit Snarl in the eye with the handle of his sword. Captain Snarl yelled and jumped back, allowing Jack to regain his balance. Snarl glared at Jack and grabbed him, throwing him onto the table. Jack crashed against the table and knocked it over. He looked to his side and saw the bottle of rum. He stood and threw it into the fireplace, and seconds later the fire exploded out into the middle of the room. He ran out of the room with his sword, surprised to see Will and Rae still standing there.

"Leave, I'll find the girl,"

"Jack you'll never find her yourself," Rae argued. She and Will looked at Jack, determined to stay and help.

"Will. Trust me on this one," Jack looked pleadingly at Will. After a moment's consideration, Will nodded once and took Rae's arm. Jack ran off down the hall in the opposite direction as them. There were hundreds of places she could be, and he knew he didn't have time to check every room for Carly, everyone in the building would have heard the commotion. He hurried through the halls and down the stairways until he came to the stairway that led to the cells.

Carly sat on the floor in a cell. Her head was throbbing and her hands were shaking. She stared at the floor until she heard hurried footsteps on the stairs. Her blood pumped faster through her veins and a chill went down her spine, watching the stairs. She sighed relief when Jack came into view with his sword in hand.

"Jack," she breathed.

"Eh, love." He seemed almost as relieved to see her as she was to see him. On the wall across from her cell hung the keys from a hook, and under them was her belt with her weapons. He swung the belt over his shoulder and picked the keys from the hook, and then tried the keys in the lock of her cell door until he found one that worked. "Come, we need to move," He took her hand and ran with her up the stairs.

Will and Rae waited by the bushes on the outskirts of the jungle outside the mansion. They watched for Jack and Carly, growing steadily impatient and worried.

"There!" Rae pointed as Jack appeared with Carly, being closely followed by two guards. "Jack!"

Jack ran with Carly past a trail of dead guards that Rae and Will had killed during their escape. The four of them sped off into the forest as the two guards chased after them.


	7. Little Patch of Dirt

Chapter Seven – Little Patch of Dirt

"I think they've fallen behind," Rae told the others, out of breath as they ran through the jungle. They slowed down to catch their breath as they neared the edge of the jungle, coming upon the town of Corcova once again. Rachel sighed and put her arm around Will's neck, resting while Carly and Jack approached. Jack wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He caught Carly's arm just in time before she nearly collapsed.

"Are you all right?" Will asked. Carly didn't answer, but looked as if she would pass out.

-----

"Jack, don't you ever just want to settle down?" Will inquired, standing on the deck of the Contentious with Jack at the helm.

"I'd rather have adventure. Fun, excitement." Jack replied, looking out at the sea.

"But life on land, with a beautiful wife and children, do you not think that has so much more to offer?"

"A ship is freedom. I don't want anything tying me down, no matter how beautiful she may be." Jack spoke positively. Will nodded once in understanding. "Why do you ask?" Jack asked him, although he already had a sneaking suspicion as to what had triggered the inquiry.

Carly approached and leaned against the side of the ship. Her forehead and jaw were bruised, as well as her neck. "Isn't it obvious? Will's been thinking about Miss Rae," she said.

"She's a nice lass, don't get me wrong, and I love her to death, but I think ye be moving a bit too fast. I'd think you'd need a bit of a break, take things slow," Jack warned Will.

"Last time, with Elizabeth, I waited too long. She's dead now." Will said, as if he needed to remind him. "I have a second chance; I've found the right girl twice now. Most people can't even find the right person to begin with. I don't want my luck to run out."

Rae approached the group, looking as though she had just woken up. "Good morning,"

"Afternoon is more like it," Jack pointed out.

"Good afternoon Rae," Will smiled politely at her, and Rae smiled back.

Carly wondered how Rae could make Will forget his fiancée so fast. She looked away from the two and watched Jack instead. He was a mess: his hair, his clothes, and every aspect of the man. But he was different than every other man she had met. He didn't even look bad when he was at his worst. He had a strange air about him that caused her to gravitate towards him.

"Carly!" Rae raised her voice.

"Hm," Carly looked at her, recovering from her daze.

"I was speaking to you, why do you ignore me?"

"Perhaps because I thought you were too infatuated with Will's lips, Miss Rae."

"How many times must I tell you to call me 'captain'?"

"Evidently more than you have." Carly said.

"What do you say to lunch?" Jack interjected, seeing that Rae intended to scold Carly again.

"Breakfast does sound nice I suppose. I'll see what I can find," Rachel said to Jack and Will. She returned soon after with her arms full of apples, bananas, and rum. "I guess we'll have to get more food, this is all,"

"Rum?" Jack grinned.

"Jack, don't drink it all, especially if you're steering," Rae warned. Jack took the bottle of rum at once, and Rae set the rest of her findings down for herself and Will. Rae bit into an apple and watched as Jack drank his rum, happy as ever. Will began to eat a banana. He wondered if Rae had spoken to Carly about Captain Snarl. By the way they acted towards each other he doubted that Rae had told Carly anything about her past encounters with the Captain.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Will asked Carly.

"I'm not hungry," she said, leaning far over the side of the ship, watching a fish swim alongside the ship in the water.

"What are you doing? Are you sick?" Rae asked after finishing her apple. Carly began to turn to face her when her hands slipped from the side of the ship and she lost her grip, falling over the rail into the water with a big splash and a scream.

"Man overboard!" Jack yelled, having successfully downed more than half his bottle of rum by now. Carly came up to the surface of the water and gasped for air. Rae shook her head and picked up a rope from near the anchor, and then lowered it over the side of the ship to Carly so she could climb up. Once Carly was rescued, Rae sat back down with Will.

"Ahoy! There here's a little patch of dirt," the drunken pirate spotted an island.


	8. Drink Up Me Hearties

Chapter Eight – Drink Up Me Hearties

"Think we've brought enough rum?" Will looked at the collection of bottles of rum lying in the sand alongside the rest of their food.

"It'll have to do," Rae said. "We just won't share it with the rest of them," she nodded her head towards the rest of the crew that were making their way onto the island. Jack threw another branch onto their pile of wood. Carly watched him. It was obvious he wasn't completely sober, but then again, was he ever? She dragged a branch onto the pile and then wiped her hands on her skirt and pants. A few other crewmembers threw the last of the branches onto the pile.

-----

Rae and Will sat together by the fire.

"Being a blacksmith, I don't spend much time out at sea,"

"I couldn't imagine being stuck for hours on end in a shop. It's all the same – pound that, hammer this, day in and day out. But a pirate, it's an adventure," Rae turned her gaze from the glowing fire and looked at Will, "Although I'm sure you're quite skilled with your hands, Mr. Turner."

Will faced her, looking quite taken aback and slightly red in the cheeks. "Will," he cleared his throat nervously when his voice cracked, "Call me Will." Rae laughed at his cute innocence, and he smiled.

Carly hummed while she toasted a banana over the flames. Her head was still aching and she was glad that Rae and Will were flirting on the opposite side of the fire, sparing her the burden of having to listen to them. She sat by Jack, avoiding conversation with anyone else and only responding to him with as few words as possible when he spoke to her.

"It's burning," he said.

"It's a fire." She replied.

"I meant the banana,"

"I like them burned."

"So do I,"

She glanced at him, and then pulled the stick with her banana out of the fire and blew on it to cool it off. She bit off a mouthful of her burned banana. He watched her as she ate and sang quietly to herself, almost in a whisper. "And really bad eggs, drink up me hearties yo ho…"

"It's strange really," he began again. She looked at him and swallowed a mouthful of her banana.

"A lot of people like toasted bananas."

"I meant how much you remind me of Will's fiancée."

Rae and Will managed to overhear over their flirting and giggling and listened. Jack and Carly took no notice.

"Was she a pirate?"

"No, quite far from one in fact. The governor's daughter, back at Port Royal. A fine and proper lady she was, even while she was drunk," A small smile came upon Jack's face. Will looked down, remembering Elizabeth. Carly looked into the fire and finished her banana. "You're almost as pretty as she was, actually. She had a little less dirt on her face," he put his hand to her face, wiping the dirt from her cheek. She eyed him suspiciously. "Lighter hair and darker eyes than you though," his eyes turned from her face down towards her chest. "And I'd say you're much more – "

"Mr. Sparrow, you can't honestly think I've had enough rum to allow that sort of talk," she scolded him, calmly.

"Oh, allow me," He promptly handed her a bottle of rum, and took one for himself as well. Rachel cleared her throat at Jack.

"Jack, where are your manners?" She smiled as Jack handed her and Will each a bottle.

"To the sea?" Jack held his bottle up.

"To the sea." The others repeated, and the four of them drank.

-----

Rae rested her head on Will's shoulder drowsily and allowed her empty rum bottle to slip from her grasp and land in the sand. Will set his own nearly empty rum bottle down by hers and took her hand.

"Come on," he said with enthusiasm.

"Hmm?"

"Come with me," he stood and helped her up.

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked, confused as he led her away from the fire and smiled mischievously at her.

"I don't know."

The tide was low, and the sand was wet and decorated with wave patterns. Scattered along the wet sand were puddles of water. Rae followed the wave patterns with her eyes, quickly becoming dizzy.

"Now seems as good a spot as any," Will said. Rachel looked up into the slightly glazed eyes of the blacksmith-pirate.

"For what exactly?"

Will bowed to her, and then kissed her hand. "Shall we dance?" he asked, with a smirk.

"Bold, Mr. Turner. I like it." She put her other hand on his shoulder and spun around with him, then tripped and fell on top of him in the sand.

"This is alright with me too," Will slurred, drunkenly. Rae giggled and rolled over onto the sand beside him, looking up at the night sky.

"Look, the stars are dancing," she pointed to the sky, tracing the path of one of the stars with her finger. Will squinted his eyes, trying to see what she saw.

-----

Carly smiled, lying down with Jack by the blazing fire with her head on his stomach. "I assure you, it's quite possible. And quite enjoyable."

"I'll have to find out for meself. Perhaps you could demonstrate for me some time," Sparrow said. Carly nodded and finished off another bottle of rum as Rae and Will walked up to the fire and joined them, stepping over the empty bottles and seeing that the two had made a huge dent in their supply. Jack smirked at the sight of them. "How nice of you two to join us finally,"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Turner, but it seems to me that you fancy Miss Rae," Carly spoke airily to Will.

"And correct you are."

"So I take it then you're not a eunuch?" Jack raised an eyebrow, interested.

"I believe we should be asking Rae about that," Carly pointed out.

"It's _Captain_ Rae, you filthy, rotten, disgustingly drunk…" she trailed off, blushing. "Besides, I wouldn't know."

Will shook his head and sat with Rae by the fire, knowing the rum would take its full affect on the pirates shortly.


	9. Gone Astray

Chapter Nine – Gone Astray

Will lifted Rae's head from his shoulder and set her into a lying position in the sand. He took off his jacket and folded it, gently placing it under her head for her to use as a pillow, and then leaned down and kissed her forehead. He walked around the dying fire to the other two pirates. Carly was asleep on Jack's stomach. Will had watched everyone after they had fallen asleep; Carly was tossing and turning through most of the night, and Jack, on the other hand, was out cold. So much had changed since he had first met Jack, he thought, kneeling down to take the empty rum bottle from his grasp. _Do you think this wise, boy, crossing blades with a pirate? _He stood and surveyed the group. At least the rum had proven to be of good use; they were much more peaceful than when they were awake. Rae and Carly were constantly at each other's throats and it was dreadfully bothersome. The young pirate began walking away from the group.

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll be back," he whispered, as if they could hear him.

-----

Carly flinched and awoke in alarm. She calmed once she had taken in her surroundings, realizing she was only in the company of Jack and Rae. Her head was pounding, a feeling much too familiar lately, and her stomach was upset as well. Jack awoke a moment later, and upon seeing Carly at his side, a proud grin spread across his sleepy face, thinking he'd picked up another whore. But his victorious grin disappeared once reality set in.

"Oh, it's you." He mumbled, disappointed.

"Oh it's me?"

"I thought you were a girl." He said, distracted by a wet patch on his shirt that looked suspiciously like drool. Carly absentmindedly wiped the saliva from the side of her cheek and stood to brush the sand off herself. Jack looked across the pile of charred branches at what was left of the fire, and noticed someone was missing. "Don't do anything stupid," he muttered to himself and rolled his eyes, knowing exactly where Will had gone.

"Where is he?" Carly wondered.

"Where do you think?"

"You don't think he's stupid enough to go back there,"

"Well I don't imagine he's off gathering seashells to make us all necklaces,"

Carly silenced, hearing the bitterness in his voice. Jack looked to the empty rum bottles. He knew that Rae would be furious once she learned that her dashing William had gone to wreak havoc on the murderer of his past love. Rae began to stir and clutched onto Will's jacket, burying her face in it. She awoke shortly after and noticed the absence of her dear William.

"Jack," she sat up at once, worried, "Jack, where is Will?"

He avoided her eyes and did not answer.

"Jack!"

"Alright." He sighed, "It's likely Mr. Turner's taken the ship to go punish Snarl, as he deserved. From the looks of it he thought it best us not getting involved."

"Why? Why would he do something so stupid?"

"The boy tends to do stupid things every time you hope or think he won't, usually at the worst possible times. He's quite the ostrich."

"Why didn't you stop him!" she yelled, enraged.

"I was passed out, just as you were, just as Carly was! If I was conscious I would have stopped him, rest assured that,"

"It isn't Jack's fault that Will's gone back to Corcova, he wanted revenge," Carly intervened.

"No, I suppose not, but it's your fault we got held up back at Snarl's in the first place, so I suggest you stay out of this. Without you we could've dealt with Snarl and gone back to Tortuga, none of this fuss, I should've never let you come along on my ship,"

"That was your mistake, not mine,"

Clearly Jack had had enough, and wasn't going to sit through another scene of the girls' childish acts. "If you don't want to starve then you'd better help gather food once you've finished arguing." He snapped, and took off into the jungle. He was quickly realizing why women were bad luck to have aboard a ship.

Rae turned to Carly. She hated to make Jack angry like that, especially when everyone's heads were throbbing with hangovers.

"I wish I'd never come along, just as much as you do," Carly said to her.

"Your mistake." Rae replied, and disappeared into the jungle after Jack.


	10. Bitter Accord

Chapter Ten – Bitter Accord

"She's not coming with us once Will returns with the ship, I won't have it," Rae spoke to Jack, following him. The sun was now directly overhead as the two of them gathered bananas in the jungle.

"So you'll leave her stranded on this island to fend for herself,"

"Yes," she replied.

"Have some decency Rachel, you know what happened at Snarls'. Did you even talk to her afterwards?"

"We weren't there for long," she argued. "We're pirates, pirates don't look out for each other." She added, as if trying to justify her decision to ostracize Carly.

"And what of you and I? We used to."

"That hasn't changed, Jack," she said, slightly hurt and unable to hide it from her voice. "But she isn't even helping us gather food, like she doesn't even care,"

"If she were here beside us you'd be telling her to piss off anyway."

He had a point, Rae thought, although she didn't want to admit it. Jack piled another bunch of bananas onto her arms. Being stubborn had always been, and would forever be, her blessing and her curse.

"Fighting with her is pointless, and quite honestly it's bloody irritating." Jack continued.

"_She's _bloody irritating,"

"I doubt she cares for you much either, love,"

"She likes you." She said, watching him intently, waiting for his response. He stopped walking and looked back at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that was this is about?"

"Of course not Jack," she snapped defensively, "You honestly think that I would – "

They were interrupted by the distant sound of splashes and a woman shouting commands. Hurrying through the jungle, they reached the beach and saw a ship just off shore and its crew approaching the sand in boats.

"It's the Pearl," Jack recognized the shredded sails at once. They noticed that Carly, who was now greeting the woman who stood from the first boat to reach the shore, had managed to get the fire up and running again. Rae was impressed.

"Anamaria," Jack smiled at the woman when she and Carly approached.

"Captain Sparrow," Anamaria smiled as well and shook hands with the pirate, "How is it you've wound up on this island? Were you not in Port Royal?"

"Aye. Unfortunately plans changed. Bloody stupid Will's taken our ship," he grumbled.

"The Contentious," Rae spoke proudly of her ship, and then turned to Carly, "I see you've resurrected the fire,"

"I thought I'd make myself useful." Carly responded with a slight attitude in her voice. A man joined them and stood by Anamaria. Rae caught the attitude in her voice and slung it back at her.

"Well in that case why don't you – "

"Carly," Jack interrupted to introduce the man. "This is – "

"Mr. Gibbs?"

"Excellent guess," Jack said, confused.

"Do you remember me? Carly," she asked the man. He analyzed her for a moment before something clicked in his mind and he realized who the young woman was. He smiled warmly at her as if they were old friends.

"Miss Carly," he nodded, "Haven't seen ye in ages,"

"No, not since you sailed from England with my father and sister,"

"Aye, Elizabeth." He glanced down at his feet. "I'm sorry, by the way,"

"About what?"

"About her. Couldn't believe it when I found out. And poor Will, having been engaged to her an' all. Mark my words, Snarl's going to pay – "

"_She _was Will's fiancée?" By the looks of it, Rae and Jack were quite taken aback as well. Jack thought back to how much Carly had reminded him of Elizabeth.

"Well, that explains it then," he said, more to himself than to the crowd. Everyone's eyes were fixed upon him, wondering what was going on in his head. He looked around at them, realizing he was the center of attention. He turned to Anamaria and changed the subject. "We'll be needing a ship back to Corcova,"

"Aye. We'll be needing to stock up on food before heading out, and patch up a few leaks on the Pearl," she replied.

"Let's get a move on then," Jack said, and led Gibbs, Anamaria, and Rae towards the jungle.

"Wait, go back to Corcova?" Carly wondered why nobody else seemed to think the idea was insane. "Have you completely lost it? We barely escaped last time, what makes you so sure we'll make it out alive this time?"

"We are not going to let Snarl go free!" Captain Sparrow growled, spinning around to face her. "Besides the fact of Elizabeth, we need to rescue Will. You can join us or you can't, the choice is yours, but keep in mind that Snarl will not stop until he is dead."

She considered the choices. If she stayed behind, she would be stranded on the island, alone until another ship came by. Snarl would not be happy that she had escaped, and would surely be sending someone after her, either to kidnap her or to kill her. If she accompanied them on the Black Pearl, she would eventually have to face Snarl again, but at least she would have Jack and Rae's help. Well, Jack's help, anyway. She wasn't so sure about Rae rising to the occasion to help her anytime soon. The latter of the two choices wasn't much more promising than the first, but it was better at least.

"When do we leave?"

"We leave as soon as possible. Tomorrow I imagine." Jack said. Her decision surprised him. Secretly, he was glad she had chosen to stay on their side.

-----

Mr. Turner stood aboard the deck of the Contentious and gazed out at the waves that seemed to be picking up speed. He was staring into the ocean when a peg-legged pirate came up behind him.

"Mr. Turner, there be the shore," he spoke in a dry voice.

"Good. I'll be going myself; you'll wait for me here. Keep watch for any Royal Navy ships." Will ordered and sent him away back to his duties. He paced back and forth along the deck, maybe out of nervousness, until he plunged his foot into a bucket. He lost his balance and fell, spilling dirty sea water along the deck. A pirate holding a mop a couple yards down the deck began to laugh, covering it up with a coughing fit and quickly returning to his work. Will glared at him.

"A pirate's life for me," he said sarcastically.


	11. Spiritually, Grammatically, Ecumenically

Chapter Eleven – Spiritually, Ecumenically, Grammatically

Rachel walked along the shore. She didn't belong on this island. She felt lonely now that Will was gone and Carly had moved in on her territory. She wasn't used to this feeling, the feeling of being surrounded by people and yet being so alone. She had always had a sense of belonging; being stuck here with Carly, Jack, and the crew of the Black Pearl, she had lost that. It seemed to her that the longer she was away from her ship, the farther she and Jack were growing apart, with Carly to blame for that. Carly was bringing out the worst in her, and she hated it. She missed the sea.

"Rae, I think ye ought to have something to eat," Mr. Gibbs spoke.

"I'm not hungry," she said bitterly, forgetting that it was not Gibbs who she was mad at. Jack walked up, bringing her a banana.

"Eat." He said, forcing it into her hand.

"I said I'm not hungry," she sighed, becoming annoyed. "Besides, there's no point."

"Aye, but Mr. Turner is still out there, and there are still hopes of saving him from his suicide mission."

"We barely escaped last time, Carly was right,"

"And even Carly has agreed to accompany us,"

"What makes you think we'll be able to save Will and save ourselves?"

"Ye have us," Gibbs spoke up.

"We've got ourselves back up." Jack assured the young Captain. Rae doubted it would make any difference, but didn't argue.

-----

Rachel sat on the beach, her legs stretched out on the sand. She stood and took her boots off, brushing off the sand from her pants and stepping forward towards the water. Every time it would come up on shore it would wash over her feet, and she watched the waves come in a steady pattern. The wind picked up and she could smell the sea breeze; it was almost like being on her ship again, until someone joined her. Carly took off her boots as well and stepped out into the water a few feet away from Rae.

"It feels nice, doesn't it?" she commented, not sure if Rae would go along with her attempt at civil conversation, give some snotty remark about how captains are too high and mighty to converse with commoners such as her and lecture about how she should bow every time she was in Rae's presence, or simply ignore her.

"Yes, it does," Rae said. Carly was pleasantly surprised. She noticed the waves had gotten stronger as she walked farther out into the water to where it reached midway between her hips and her knees. She stumbled back when each wave came and hit her at the waist, threatening to knock her over. Rae stood near her, considering bringing up the subject of Captain Snarl. The water blended into the night sky with the moon being hidden behind a mass of clouds, and consequently they were unable to see the monstrous waves until they were little more than a couple feet away.

"Why did you decide to come with us back to Corcova?" Rae asked after a few minutes silence. Carly looked at her and felt a small tinge of defensiveness rising up from her stomach.

"Well I know you'd rather I stay here to die, but – "

"No," Rae said quickly, "I didn't mean that. I was just wondering what made you change your mind."

"Oh." Carly narrowed her eyes a little. "Well if you must know – "

But before she could answer, another massive wave had snuck up and knocked the two of them over. They stood once the wave had receded, both of them soaking wet messes. They looked at each other and slowly they began to smile and laugh together. They picked up their boots and went to the fire where Gibbs, Anamaria, and Jack were gathered.

"What happened to you two?" Gibbs asked.

"Probably been off trying to kill each other again," Jack said, grabbing himself a chunk of coconut from a selection of coconuts and bananas.

"The waves knocked us over. They're really picking up, wouldn't be surprised if we get a storm," Rae said as she put on Will's coat and sat by the fire.

"Let's hope not," Anamaria said, offering her some pieces of coconut. Carly sat by Jack and attempted to squeeze some of the seawater out of her hair. He picked up his coat from beside him and handed it to her.

"Put this on, you're sopping wet,"

"Thank you," she smiled slightly at him and wrapped the coat around herself. Rae watched them, shooting daggers at them with her eyes, which they didn't notice.

"Rae," Mr. Gibbs raised his voice, attempting to get her attention. Finally she turned to him.

"Yes?"

"How ye be getting along with Miss Carly?" he repeated himself.

"Oh I'd say we're bonding quite well." She smiled sweetly. "Coconut?" she offered a piece to Carly, still maintaining her forced smile that was becoming increasingly painful by the second. Carly couldn't help but notice how fake her smile was, and was reluctant to take anything from her.

"Well I'd say we've reached a nice, calm, bicker-free point now, haven't we?" Jack said to the two girls, pleased.

"Yes," Carly looked at Rae, deciding two could play at her game. "Besides, if I wanted to kill you I'd have done it by now."

"Like you could," Rachel scoffed.

"You're not much use with a sword, and I doubt your aim with a pistol would be much better. But lucky for you, I have no intention of killing you, Miss Rae."

"You haven't seen me at my best, and it's still Captain Rae to you." Rae stood and threw her piece of coconut into the fire.

"Don't burn our food," Carly yelled at her. Rae merely smiled pleasantly at her and turned to walk away. Carly grabbed a whole coconut from the pile and threw it at Rae's back. Rachel spun around and pointed her pistol at Carly.

"Seeing as you claim to be a pirate, let's put our skills to the test, shall we?" she suggested. "Mind you my aim hardly needs improving and this trigger doesn't stick." Carly stood and pulled out her pistol as well.

"Guns, they've got guns, Jack. Shouldn't we stop 'em?" Gibbs said.

"No, someone might get hurt." Jack watched the two girls, deciding to allow them to settle their feud once and for all. Keeping their pistols aimed at each other, Carly pelted whole coconuts at Rae, who chucked them right back at her.

"I'm wondering, Miss Rae, did you plan on firing that pistol?" Carly asked, holding another coconut at the ready. Rae raised an eyebrow and fired her pistol in Carly's direction, missing her by a couple inches. Carly's mouth dropped, enraged.

"Alright, that's enough!" Jack got up finally and stood in front of Rae. Carly threw her coconut at Rae, hitting Jack in the side of the head instead and knocking him unconscious.

-----

"Bloody pirates," Will said under his breath, walking through Corcova and avoiding the whores.


	12. Only A Little Rain

Chapter Twelve – Only a Little Rain

"Wonderful, knock out the best man here why don't you! I'll be damned if you make it off this island alive, Carly!"

"It was an accident!"

"Oh, an _accident! _I see, and I suppose that makes him any less unconscious?"

"It never would've happened if you hadn't picked a fight with me, Rachel." Carly tore a strip of fabric from her clothing and dampened it with the seawater. She sat by the fire with Jack's head in her lap and held the cloth to his head.

"_Captain," _Rae exclaimed, exasperated.

"I'll start calling you Captain when you stop criticizing my every action," Carly's temper escalated.

"I don't criticize your every action, only the bad ones."

"Which obviously must be all of them."

-----

Jack awoke to the sound of thunder. "The rum!" He jumped and bellowed groggily. He blinked a few times and shook his head, and then sat up.

"Rise and shine, Captain Sparrow. Carly really did a number on ye," Rae smiled at him.

"Aye." He put his hand to his head gingerly, feeling the bump the coconut had left. He hoped the girls had resolved their differences while he was out. He didn't fancy getting caught in the middle of one of their disputes again.

"That'll leave a mark," Mr. Gibbs chuckled.

"How would ye like a big mark left on your forehead, Gibbs?" Jack grunted as he stood and brushed himself off. The light shower of rain had been enough to almost completely smother their fire, and with its absence the island had become forebodingly dark.

"I say it's about time we build a fort," Rae announced. She looked up as a shock of lightning lit up the cloudy night sky.

"It's only a little rain," Carly said with a smile.

-----

"Only a little rain, eh?" Sparrow mimicked the girl now clutching onto his arm. The trees swayed in the wind, and Carly thought for sure they would break in half.

"Will it last long?" she asked him over the howling wind. He didn't answer, but instead he convinced her to let go of his arm and moved forward to help the rest of the crew. They were busy bringing the boats in from shore and propping them up on the oars to make a shelter in the outskirts of the jungle. The waves crashed upon the shore knocking over many of the men, which made the process take longer.

Once a wall had been built, the pirates sat with their backs against the boats that were shielding them from the rain. Carly looked to Jack as if hoping she'd find reassurance in his face, but it was as stern as ever. She turned to Rae instead who was huddled on the other side of Jack. They were soaking wet and cold. Rae's mind was as frantic as the storm itself. She hoped Will was safe. He was bloody stupid, and hopefully it was just a disease that could be cured once he'd been rescued. She wondered if it was storming in Corcova as well. The storm seemed to be moving incredibly slow over the deserted island. Their fort wouldn't hold out much longer; the wind was too strong for the boats to stay in place.

-----

Slowly the winds and rain from the storm had begun to die down. Some of the crewmembers and Carly had fallen asleep and were covered in wet muddy sand.

"Freezin' I tell ye," Gibbs said. Jack nodded in agreement. "Lucky if we can find some dry wood for a fire," He stood and looked up at the sky. Rae sighed and elbowed Carly in the ribs.

"What," Carly woke and rubbed her side.

"Wake up you lazy lump,"

"It's night, when would you like me to sleep?"

"We're going to look for firewood," Rae stood ready to follow Mr. Gibbs. Jack held his arm out in front of her.

"Too dangerous love, stay here. He'll be back."

"Too dangerous for me, but it's alright for him?"

"I'm sorry if I care for ye Rae but I can't put you in any more danger," Jack told her, sounding like an overprotective sibling.

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?" she spat at him, annoyed. He had, after all, come to Tortuga and asked for her help in the first place.

"Stay here." He repeated, sounding a little colder than he may have intended.


	13. Dead Men Tell No Tales

Chapter Thirteen – Dead Men Tell No Tales

Will walked through the town in a drunken stupor. The alcohol seemed to be bringing out an aggressive side in him, and all he could think about was his dear Elizabeth and the man who had murdered her.

"Bloody pirates," he said aloud, throwing his empty liquor bottle. It smashed on the ground and the people around him began to stare. They seemed to be afraid, whispering amongst themselves. Even in a town of thieves, pirates were at the top of the hierarchy and were quite feared, mostly due to Captain Snarl and his gang of miscreants. They often preyed on the people of Corcova just for laughs. They were remorseless, and they took pleasure in the pain they inflicted upon the townspeople. A man approached the drunken blacksmith and took him by the shoulder.

"Are ye stupid, boy? Speaking of pirates 'round these parts?"

"Boy?" Will shook the man's hand off his shoulder. "I'm not a boy, I was to be married to one of the most – "

"You've run into Cap'n Snarl, haven't ye," The man said in an undertone.

"Bastard killed her, ruined every chance at love I had!"

"Keep it down, lad," the man warned, and then nodded. "He tends to do that. I used to be one of his crew."

"I'm going to kill him,"

"That's not possible," the man said with a laugh.

-----

Rae patiently awaited Gibbs' return while Carly tapped her fingers on her knee. They'd been waiting for what seemed like much more than just half an hour, and their nerves were so high that every little sound made them jump. Rachel looked at Carly tapping her knee.

"Will you stop that?"

"What?" Carly asked, confused. Rae shook her head and looked to Jack.

"What's takin' Gibbs so long? He should've been back already, shouldn't he?"

"He's drunk, ye never know what could happen out 'ere." Jack had been assuring them that Gibbs was fine, that he probably lost his way and that he would be back soon, but it sounded like he was losing his confidence.

"What if he's – " But Carly didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to. They sat in silence for several minutes, each of them nervously looking around in paranoia. Jack took another look through the gap in the trees, and then he turned to Carly and Rae.

"Alright." He sighed. The three of them stood with Jack in the lead and the girls side by side behind him as they ventured into the jungle. Their path was lit by patches of moonlight scattered across the ground. Soon the trees and brush became so thick that they would not allow the moonlight to shine through anymore.

"I can't see a thing," Rae told them, stating the obvious. She stumbled into Jack, not realizing that he and Carly had stopped. "What – " But Carly covered Rae's mouth before she could get another word out. Carly's hands were cold and clammy. They listened, and the sound of something brushing against the leaves could be heard, faintly. Not one of them dared to call out for Gibbs, for fear of giving away their whereabouts to something else. Jack searched the surroundings with his eyes. Carly shifted her feet, rustling the brush beneath them.

"Don't move." Jack said quietly. Carly ignored his warning after something caught her eye. She took a few steps to the right. "What part of 'don't move' did ye not understand?" Jack said. He and Rae followed her. Ahead of Carly was a rope hanging from above and dragging on the ground. She looked around searching for what it was connected to, and then took a hold of it and tugged.

"Carly – " Rae jumped forward and caught Carly as she fell back. The two screamed as the body of Mr. Gibbs swung forward, knocking them both to the ground. The rope was tied around his neck, and his eyes were wide and glazed over on his pale face. Etched into his forehead was a mark: the same insignia that had been on the barrel in the ocean days before. Jack caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and as if something had clicked in his head, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Now you can move! Get back to the beach!"

Rae grabbed Carly's arm and ran with her, Jack following right behind.


	14. Uncovering the Past

Chapter Fourteen – Uncovering the Past

They reached the clearing where the crew was huddled together. Anamaria approached Jack as soon as he emerged from the jungle. "We heard screaming," she said, concerned.

"Afraid we'll have to cut our stay here a bit short." Jack wiped his mouth with his hand. "Snarl's sent someone to play a round of cat and mouse with us." He said shortly. There were worried whispers amongst the crew while the three of them caught their breath. Carly walked a few feet away and got sick in the bushes. Jack looked around at the lot. His eyes were intense. "We're going back to Corcova. Tonight."

"Jack," Carly looked at him, nervous. "I don't think I can – "

"You don't think you can? You don't think you can help us fight Snarl for killing your sister? For killing Gibbs, for killing countless others? Will's gone after Snarl, someone on this island has it in for us, and now you're backing out?"

"William can handle himself,"

"He can't handle Snarl!" Jack shouted.

"Don't you understand?" Rae yelled, glaring at Carly like she had betrayed them all. "Will needs our help, and if you aren't able to assist us then you'll just have to stay here and we will leave without you."

"I won't go back there!"

"Then stay here!" Rae screamed at her. "You've been no help to us since the moment you stepped foot on my ship. Snarl's little messenger's going to find you on this island if you stay behind. He'll kidnap you and take you straight back to Snarl so he can torture you and finish you off himself. Either way you're going back to Corcova."

The only noise after their scene was Mr. Cotton's blue and yellow parrot jabbering away incoherently. Even the wind was quiet. The rain had finally let up, and it appeared that the storm had passed. Each of them had distant looks on their faces. It was obvious that their nerves were getting the best of them, and none of them had intended to blow up at each other as they had.

"Bring the boats to the shore, we'll board the ship." Jack ordered, quietly unlike himself. As the crew began to move, the parrot screeched as if to warn everyone.

"What'd he say?" Rae watched the parrot that appeared to have gone mental.

"He said 'Davy Jones' Locker'." Carly told her.

"Death. We're going to die if we don't get off this island, even the parrot knows it," Anamaria worried. As if on cue, a dark, muscular man ran towards them with a huge curved blade the size of a man's arm, holding it up fiercely and ready to strike. He was covered in blood. Rae pulled out her pistol at once and shot the insanity driven man.

"Hurry, there could be more of them hiding!" she ordered. Some of the crewmembers were already rowing their way out to the ship without needing to hear her command.

-----

"I should tell Will," Rae whispered to Jack. She and Carly were in their underclothes after leaving their outfits out on the deck to dry. Carly was lying on the floor pretending to be asleep at the other side of the room. There were candles lit around the room, casting a soft orange glow over Jack and Rae's faces as they talked quietly to each other.

"He won't react very well to the news," Jack guaranteed her. His voice sounded even deeper when he was quiet. Carly silently wondered what this news could be.

"Do you think it would be better if I didn't tell him?" Rae asked.

"I didn't say that,"

"What about Carly? Did you plan on telling her?"

"Why would I?" Jack wondered aloud.

"Oh come on, I've seen the way you look at her. And I can tell she fancies you. You can't pretend you haven't noticed,"

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Okay," Rae said, patronizingly.

"Maybe a little." Jack muttered to himself after a moment. By now Carly was using every ounce of willpower she had not to interrupt them.

"It's okay Jack," Rae told him. "At least she's decent looking. Definitely not as pretty as me of course, but…"

"I need more rum." The perpetually drunken pirate sighed. Rae laughed.

"We're all out, you drank the last of it, as always."

"Have to get more in Corcova then," He made a mental note of this.

"Aye. Wake her up," Rae said, glancing over at Carly. "I'll get our clothes, they should've dried out a bit by now." She gave Jack a pat on the back before she stood and left the room. Jack watched Carly lying on the floor with his coat under her head for a pillow. She shut her eyes tightly when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Rise and shine love," he said. She opened her eyes and stretched her arms up over her head. "Sleep well?"

"Yes." She told him, but in fact she had not slept well at all.

"Good, good." He said, awkwardly. Carly sat up, only half expecting him to tell her what he and Rae had been discussing. "Rae and myself have got ourselves a past," He said after a few minutes. "We were together for a while. That was six years ago, when I helped her out of some trouble." He waited for Carly to respond. Her throat tightened, but her voice remained steady.

"Oh," was all that she could manage.

He saw Carly's cheeks turning pink and her face straining to stay as expressionless as possible. He began to think that maybe Rae had been right. "But we aren't involved anymore. We've just remained close friends, and always will."

"You're not obligated to explain yourself to me,"

"I know. I mean, I am. That's not what I meant, I mean – "

"I need my clothes," She cut him off and left the room, not wanting to hear anymore. She felt so stupid now that she knew about their relationship. She ran into Rae on her way out. In her arms were Carly's clothes.

"Good morning. I have your clothes, they're still a bit damp, but they'll do. I was just about to find us something to eat if you're hungry,"

"No thank you, Captain." Carly eagerly took her clothes and went back inside the room to dress. Jack left the room to see Rae, who looked taken aback.

"I told her," he said.

"That could explain her odd behavior."

"When will we be at Corcova?"

"Before nightfall."

-----

Will sat in a tavern with the former member of Snarl's crew. He took another swig of his rum, rambling on with slurred words. "Rum for lunch, rum for breakfast, rum for snack, rum for brunch,"

"You don't drink much, do ye," the man said, finding Will incredibly amusing.

"No. What was it you were saying?" Will squinted his eyes at the man.

"Nothin'. Tell me again what you're here for?"

"It's those evil pirates," Will slurred before drifting into unconsciousness.

-----

Will awoke, keeping his eyes shut tight. He furrowed his brow, feeling something pecking at his ear. Opening his eyes, he saw a chicken pecking at his ear while he lay sprawled on the ground outside the bar. He shooed the chicken away with his arm and sat up, shaking his head. He looked to his left and saw the man laughing at him.

"Bout time ye woke up. Got thrown out near an hour ago, you was passed out." He pulled Will to his feet and walked with him until they came upon another bar. The moment they entered they were greeted by the shrill laughs of a group of ladies being told a story by a man.

"And so I said 'im, I said, 'that in't no duck ye mindless dog, that be yer wife!'" the man was saying. Will looked up when he overheard the unmistakable sound of Jack and Rae's drunken voices.

"We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs, drink up me 'earties yo ho!" Jack and Rae laughed obnoxiously. Carly sat across from them, looking bored and annoyed as she ran her finger around the rim of her cup on the table. Rae kissed Jack's cheek and he put his arm around her, taking another swig of his drink before kissing Rae's neck and making her giggle. The man looked for who had caught Will's attention. He saw Rae, and slinked away over to the bar instead of following Will, looking a little shaken.

"Jack!" Will shouted as he cut through the crowd and approached their table. "What is this?"

"Will! Jolly good of you to join us, we were terribly worried about ye! How's about a drink, eh?"

"I think you've had enough to drink, you bastard."

Carly sighed and stood up, relieved to see Will. "I suppose you didn't know that Jack and Rae have a past together,"

"What do you mean?"

"They were more than friends. Six years ago. This," she nodded her head at the two, "must be left over from their little romance." She paused and scrunched up her nose. "You smell like rum, you've been drinking too?"

"No," Will said, not paying attention to her. He narrowed his eyes, watching as Jack touched Rae's nose with his finger and kissed the side of her face. Anger and hate rose from the pit of his stomach and he drew his sword. "Get your filthy hands off her!" He punched Jack in the jaw with his free hand.

"Will!" Carly yelled. He swung again and Carly stood between him and Jack. She grabbed Will's wrists and held them as best she could, struggling to keep him away from Sparrow, which wasn't an easy task considering he was much stronger than her.

"Jack you bastard!" he continued to yell.

"Will, calm down!" Carly managed to get him away from the table and to the entrance of the bar while he fought against her. She pushed and dragged him outside of the bar as he continued to struggle.

"I won't let him touch her like that!"

"They're drunk! And so are you," she shouted at him, not letting go of his wrists.

"Even more reason to kill him!" Will shouted and swung his arm in anger, accidentally hitting Carly across the face. They looked at each other for a moment. "I'm sorry,"

"Calm down."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She looked away from him and put her hand to her cheek.

"Here, let me see," he offered, and gently put his finger under her chin and turned her head to see where he had hit her.

"They knew each other before either of us were in the picture," she said. "I'm angry too, but there's nothing we can do about it, and killing Jack won't get us anywhere, especially while we're here in Corcova."

"How long until they're sober?"

"I don't know. I think it's best if we just wait for them out here."

-----

Carly and Will sat against the wall of the tavern. It had been at least a couple hours since Carly had dragged him out of the bar. Neither of them had cared to go back inside to check on Rae and Jack. Finally, the two of them came out of the bar. They saw Carly and Will waiting for them and approached cautiously.

"Will," Rae began.

"Don't." he warned her and stood up with Carly.

"Why do you have to be like this?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were in love with Jack?"

"It was six years ago, and I don't think I'm obligated to tell you anything anyway." She told him off angrily, but still seemed fairly calm at the same time.

"We can do this another time, when everyone here is sober." Carly stopped them before their argument progressed. Somehow she didn't think there would ever be such a time.


	15. Blood of a Bitch

Chapter Fifteen – Blood of a Bitch

The four pirates stood in a semi-circle outside of the tavern.

"Where are we off to now? Are we still going back to kill Snarl?" Rae asked the group.

"We can try," said Will's solemn voice. He laid eyes on Rae, clearly expressing his bitterness towards her. "I've been told he's invincible."

"That's a load of rubbish if ye ask me." Rae spat.

"No one did," Carly pointed out coolly. Rae walked in the lead beside Jack while Carly and Will followed behind them. The tension between them grew as they walked through the streets, as if at any moment the rope restraining each person's temper would snap and they would explode with anger.

In an effort to break the uneasy silence and ease some of the tension, Jack glanced back at Will. "About earlier, with Rae," But before he could continue, Will shot dagger eyes at him, warning him not to go on. Jack didn't dare test Will's temper now and faced forward.

As they made their way through the city, the commotion seemed to die down, although the streets remained packed with people. Carly noticed an increasing number of whores at work and couldn't help but think that Rae would fit in perfectly here. She bit her tongue and resisted the urge to comment to Rae as they passed one busy couple by the side of a building. Suddenly the townspeople began scattering to the sides of the streets. A horde of military men dressed in red and white marched towards them.

"There!" one of the men shouted, pointing at Jack and the others. A short, stubby, and familiar man hurried up to them, leading the rest of the Royal Navy.

"So we meet again, Mr. Sparrow. Accompanied by Mr. Turner I see. Commodore Norrington has been looking forward to seeing you again."

"Is that so?" Jack asked. "Clap 'em in irons then." He put forth his hands, expecting the other three to do the same.

-----

Jack, Rae, Carly, and Will sat in silence in a cell on Norrington's ship. Rae and Jack sat against one wall, and Carly and Will sat on the wall opposite them.

"At least they took the chains off our hands," Rae attempted to break the silence.

"Shut up." Carly said.

"Excuse me?"

"Yours is the last voice I want to hear at the moment."

"This isn't my fault, Carly,"

"Oh, and I suppose sleeping with Jack wasn't your fault either?"

Jack interrupted before Rae could respond, "Ladies, please. Not now."

"I think now would be the perfect time," Will intervened in the brewing argument. "I'd like to know why the two of you conveniently forgot to bring up that small detail to Carly and myself, Jack,"

"It was a mistake, alright," Jack said.

Rae raised her eyebrow and looked at the captain. "Is that what it was? A mistake? Being with me was a mistake?"

"No, that's not what I meant,"

"You're still in love with her, aren't you?" Carly said accusingly.

"No, I am not still in love with her."

"You are,"

"Get over it Carly!" Rae shouted, losing her temper.

"You've waited this long to tell us of your romance with Jack, how am I to know you haven't other men in your past as well?" Will raised his voice.

"Filthy whore like that, sure there's more," Carly assured him.

"That's terribly funny coming from you, Carly," Jack said cruelly.

"You're a bastard Jack," Will yelled, defending Carly. "You deserve to burn in hell."

"We've got nothing to be sorry for, neither of you were in the picture when we were together!" Rae shouted at him.

"And yet you failed to mention it to us," Carly said.

"Shut your mouth!" Jack growled at her. "And you, back off. I don't want to fight you." He warned Will.

"I'd gladly fight you Sparrow," Will glared at him.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Is there a problem?" Commodore Norrington stood outside the bars with his hands resting behind his back, watching the argument and looking quite entertained.

"Yes. Very much so," Rae stood and went to the bars, "I assume you are Commodore Norrington?"

"Yes, Miss –"

"Captain Klaison." She corrected him. "I demand you set us free, we've done nothing wrong."

"You four are here for suspect of murder. I've been given orders to capture anyone who may be involved in the murder of the governor's daughter, that includes Mr. Sparrow and Mr. Turner, and anyone else who may accompany them. You're not leaving this cell until we've reached Port Royal,"

Jack stood, annoyed. "It was Captain Snarl, you git, not us."

"Yes, well we are taking no chances." The Commodore said with a satisfied smile.

Jack stood and grabbed the bars to the cell and shook it violently. "You know we didn't do it! You're wasting your time taking us to Port Royal, by the time you come back to Corcova he'll have killed even more people,"

"I suggest you keep your temper under control Mr. Sparrow, for the sake of yourself as well as your friends."

The two men glared at each other. Jack would've loved nothing more than to strangle Norrington with his bare hands, just as the Commodore would love to see Jack hanged once and for all. Rae looked up at Jack until he let go of the bars, reluctant to do so.

"Nine years ago there was an encounter with him," Norrington continued. "Governor Swann, young Elizabeth, and I crossed his path on our way from England. Not too long before we encountered the Black Pearl, in fact."

"Why didn't you kill him?" Rae asked angrily.

"We tried. It's as if he's invincible. His crew, on the other hand, are not. We slaughtered many of his men, and he in turn killed many of ours. He attempted to capture Elizabeth, and fortunately he was unsuccessful. We have Mr. Gibbs to thank for that."

"Gibbs, where is he?" Will questioned.

"He's dead." Jack stated, eyeing the Commodore. "Killed by one of Snarl's men." He added. Norrington's visage of arrogance seemed to fade shortly after.

"There's got to be a way to kill Snarl," Rae spoke.

Norrington looked at her. "There are rumors."

"Of what?"

"His own blade."

"The dagger," Will's eyes lit up, remembering the dagger Jack had found by Elizabeth's bed.

"Yes, we have it. We plan on returning the four of you to Port Royal where we will hold you on trial and most likely hang the lot of you. Then we will return to Corcova to find Snarl," Norrington said.

"Well Commodore," Carly stood. "I'm not entirely sure the governor's going to be pleased to hear that you've kept Sparrow and Turner and myself locked up in this cell when clearly you already know who the real murderer is,"

The Commodore raised his eyebrows, slightly amused at the thought that such a girl would have the courage to order him around, especially under the circumstances. "And who are you, might I ask?"

"Carly Swann. The governor's daughter."

"I find that highly unlikely. He's never mentioned you," He told her, and his confident expression faltered for a second. Something about his tone made him sound less than convincing.

"Perhaps he felt it didn't concern you. Unlock the door,"

He narrowed his eyes at the girl, unwilling to give in to her. After considering her for a moment, he stepped forward to unlock the door. "Fine. But you four will still be returning to Port Royal."

Just as he turned the key in the lock, Jack swung the cell door forward, hitting Norrington in the head and knocking him to the ground. "I think not," he said to Norrington's unconscious body. He grabbed the keys and looked at the others. "Let's go."


	16. Lost and Found

Chapter Sixteen – Lost and Found

Carly, Rae, and Will stepped over Norrington's body. Jack lifted Norrington's torso with his arms under the Commodore's armpits and dragged him into the cell. He locked the door and then pocketed the keys. They gathered the belts with their weapons that hung from hooks on the wall across from the cell. Jack turned to the other three pirates.

"We need that dagger, once we've got it we'll return to Snarl's mansion," he said.

"And then what?" Carly asked as she tightened her belt across her upper body.

"We kill him."

"Yes but how, Jack, even with his dagger the four of us are no match for him and his crew," Rae put her hands impatiently on her hips. She looked desperately to the Captain; she had run out of ideas of how to kill Captain Snarl, and the others were not making any suggestions either. Now was the time she wished Jack would conjure up one of his infamous acts of brilliance.

"Just trust me." Jack placed his hat on his head and led them up the stairs. Will shook his head at Jack's request. How could he or Carly trust Jack anymore, and furthermore, how could he expect them to? He followed the two girls and Jack up to the deck. As they came upon the captain's quarters, two voices could be heard approaching. Jack hid with the other three by the side of the cabin as two Royal Navy men passed.

"Of course he's not invincible, no man is," one of them was saying.

"And what of Captain Barbossa?" the second man replied.

"He's dead now in't he?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Then there you have it, no man is invincible…"

Jack waited for the men to pass, and then went to the door to the cabin. He tried a few keys in the lock before finding the one that worked. He ushered the others into the cabin before closing the door behind them. The room was quite large, with a bookshelf and a desk along one wall, a closet and bed on another wall, and a long table down the center of the room. It was occupied by a candle at either end, the only source of light in the dark room. Jack stashed the keys away and picked up one of the candles by its holder, dripping wax onto the table. He crossed the room and went to the desk and began searching through the drawers while the other three pirates searched the rest of the room. They tore the room apart, finding nothing – everything except the dagger. Jack opened the last drawer and sighed dejectedly.

"It's not here."

"Where else could it be?" Rae looked at him. "We've searched the entire room. They wouldn't have left it in Port Royal, it's here somewhere."

Carly went to the desk and reached her hand in the drawer and lifted up the board. Underneath it, something glinted in the candlelight. She pulled the jeweled dagger out from under the board with her other hand. The other three pirates looked at the dagger in awe, until they were interrupted by two men from the Royal Navy, Murtogg and Mullroy, who remembered their previous encounters with Jack all too well. Rae snatched the dagger from Carly and hid it behind her back, then slammed the drawer shut on Carly's hand. Carly gasped in pain and Murtogg and Mullroy pointed their guns and the group.

"You aren't supposed to be in here," Mullroy narrowed his eyes at the pirates. Jack stepped forward and set the candle down on the table while the two men followed his every move with their guns.

"Neither are you," Jack said. He then drew his sword and pointed it at the men. They flinched and stepped back nervously. "Let us take a boat to shore," he ordered. His voice was low and threatening, frightening even to Carly and Will. Murtogg and Mullroy exchanged uneasy glances and then nodded.

"Right."

"We'll take you,"

"We'll go ourselves. I can row a boat, thanks." Jack said. He kept his sword pointed at them as they stepped aside from the door. "Oh, and the Commodore will be wanting these, I imagine." He added before tossing the keys to Mullroy and following Carly, Rae, and Will out the door.

-----

Rae studied the dagger in her lap as they approached the shore of Corcova. The ruby and emerald stones looked dark in the fading moonlight. They were hungry, but not one of them would've been able to keep any food down if they tried. The water was gloomy and dull, and far from the brilliant blue-green they were used to. It would be dawn in an hour. Carly glanced at Rae and the dagger before they stepped out of the boat into the cool gray water.

"Don't lose that," Carly told her.

"Won't," Rae stated. After one last look at the dagger, she hid it carefully down the front of her corset. Jack looked across the water and squinted his eyes until he caught sight of the tiny figure that was Norrington's ship in the distance. Will was watching the ship as well. The wind picked up every few seconds, making the trees in the jungle ahead of them sway. They gave the jungle an eerie feel to it, as if it would suck them in and swallow them whole if they stepped too close to it.

"Better get a move on, it'll be dawn soon," Jack said, turning away from the ocean and addressing the group. He then made his way into the jungle, and the others followed in his tracks. It was still quite dark in the jungle; the sun wasn't up yet, and the moonlight was already gone. They were silent as they walked through the damp dirt and mist that hung around the trees. Rae slowed her pace and looked around, sensing that they weren't alone. Every time the wind rustled the leaves on the branches around them they whipped their heads around to look and braced themselves for an attack, but this soon stopped once they had grown accustomed to the sounds. Carly's stomach growled. She paid no attention to it, having no desire to eat. She looked behind her where Rae had been following, and then looked to her sides.

"Stop," she alerted Jack and Will. "Where's Rae?"

"Thought she was behind you," Will looked around, just as Jack and Carly were doing. "Rae!" he yelled for her.

Carly jumped forward and covered his mouth. "Are you trying to get us killed?" she whispered frantically. "Anyone could be in this jungle looking for us, they'll hear you,"

"We've got to find her, we've got to find Rae," Will looked to Jack. Jack was always the one with the ideas. He looked around, and then led Carly and Will a couple yards to the side to a clearing in the trees. He drew an X in the damp dirt with his sword beside one of the larger trees.

"Take Carly, I'll go myself. Find Rae and meet back here at dawn." He instructed Will.

"What if we don't find her?" Carly asked.

"Find her and we won't have to worry about that." Jack answered and scampered off into the trees before another question could be asked.

-----

"I'm so glad Mr. Sparrow decided to bring you along, really. And the girl, I like her." Snarl smiled wickedly as he stood in front of Rae. The side of his face was scarred from burns, as was one of his hands. Rae was bound to a tree and was gagged by a rag shoved in her mouth.

Will and Carly moved quietly toward the trees surrounding Rae and Snarl, hearing his malicious laugh. They hid behind a tree and watched Snarl step closer to Rae and take a handful of her hair. He twirled it around his finger and looked in her eyes, running his hand over her chest. The tip of the end of the dagger sticking out of the front of her corset had caught his eye. Will made to jump forward and Carly grabbed him around the waist and held him back. She looked pleadingly at him, and he settled and continued to watch the Captain and Rae.

Snarl put his hand down Rae's corset and pulled the dagger out. "You see what Sparrow's done?" he asked, indicating the burns on his face. "How will I repay him, I wonder." He held the dagger dangerously close to Rae's cheek. "Any ideas? I don't think a simple letter thanking him would be enough, no, perhaps a gift basket. Yes, we could send him a gift basket with a couple bottles of rum, I think he'd enjoy that. What do you think?" he asked her, thoughtfully. "No? Hm. You're right, it's too much. But what I could do is carve my message to him into your face, and – oh yes, I almost forgot. I suppose I should thank you for returning my blade to me," he smiled. He laughed and grabbed her face. "I'll thank you later," he said, and then let go of her chin and walked away. Once they were certain that Captain Snarl was gone, Will rushed over to Rae, closely followed by Carly. He removed the rag from her mouth while Carly untied her restraints.

"Are you alright?" Will asked, taking Rae in his arms.

She nodded and looked down, feeling guilty. "He took the dagger,"

"We'll get it back, don't worry," Carly attempted to console Rae, as well as herself, without having much success. By now the darkness had lifted; a thick fog still hung in the air, and the sun that had started to rise was hidden behind the clouds. Will took Rae's hand and led them back to the clearing.

-----

Jack listened for any signs of Rae. He stopped, hearing the soft rustle of trees as someone walked through them. He looked towards where the sound was coming from and took a few steps in that direction. Seconds later he dodged behind a tree when Snarl emerged from the leaves. He stood with his back to the tree and listened to Snarl's footsteps come closer. They slowed as they approached the tree. Jack heard him stop inches away; he could feel Snarl's eyes on the tree, like they were burning holes right through to Jack. He almost thought he felt Snarl smile. He waited until his enemy passed by, apparently unaware of Jack's presence.


	17. X Marks the Spot

Chapter Seventeen – X Marks the Spot

"It was right by that big tree,"

"They're all big trees, Carly."

Will ignored the two girls. He was sure they had passed through this area before. Sighing heavily, he looked away from Rae and Carly and turned his attention to the surrounding jungle. They had been searching for quite some time now, and everything was beginning to look the same. The fog had finally lifted so that the jungle appeared slightly less ominous, although the somber white sky remained, and they were no closer to finding Jack and their meeting point than they had been an hour ago. "We shouldn't have split up," he heard Carly saying. "We'll never find Jack now, we're lost,"

He took one last look around at the jungle and then turned to her. "We should concentrate on finding our way out of here. With any luck, Jack will have done the same and we'll meet up with him somewhere."

"What?" she asked, as if she had misheard him.

"I said we'll get ourselves out of here and then we'll find Jack," he repeated, louder this time so that there was no mistaking his words.

"And leave without him? What if he's hurt?"

"Will's right," Rae admitted, "He'll be alright, Jack knows how to take care of himself, he's smart."

"He's not immortal,"

"He can handle himself," Will repeated forcefully.

"That's exactly what I said about you when you took Rae's ship with your brilliant idea to go after Snarl alone! What would've happened to you if we had let you handle yourself?" Carly yelled at him.

"Why don't we yell a little louder so Snarl's crew has no trouble finding us, I don't think they can hear us in Tortuga!" Rae yelled, now taking on Jack's look of utter exasperation every time she and Carly used to argue.

"Great." Carly glared at her.

"It doesn't matter. They know we're here, Snarl's probably got men out looking for us. We've come to more than one clearing, haven't we? And not one was marked by Jack." Rae explained.

"It wouldn't be hard to erase an X drawn in the dirt." Will agreed.

"Which still leaves us with the problem that Jack may be hurt, and I'm going to find him. If you two don't want to help then that's quite alright with me." Carly defiantly raised her eyebrows at Will and Rae and folded her arms across her chest.

"Don't be stupid, we're not leaving you here." The words had escaped from Rae's mouth before she could stop them, surprising each of them. "I don't know why, but I don't feel right leaving you here alone, where you would probably get hurt, or starve to death, and we wouldn't have to deal with you anymore, and I wouldn't have to listen to you complain or argue with me, and I wouldn't have to waste my energy yelling at you anymore, because you're really like a pebble in my shoe." She paused for a moment with a look on her face like she rather enjoyed the sound of that scenario. "Actually, now that I think about it –"

Will shook his head and looked sympathetically towards Carly. "It would be foolish for us to split up again. Jack has probably already found his way out of this jungle and is either waiting for us back at Corcova, or he's been captured and taken to Snarl's mansion. Either way, the three of us need to find him."

"And which way, pray tell, is Corcova or Snarl's mansion?"

Will opened his mouth to answer, but he couldn't. He looked to Rae for the answer, but she merely jerked her head, which he took to mean _I don't know._

"Exactly." Carly continued. "We're lost in the middle of a jungle, _lost _being the significant word here, with no sign of Ja –" but she was abruptly interrupted by a yell, something between a growl and a shriek. They held their breath while they listened to the sound of swords clashing not far off, and the distinct bellowing voice of Jack. They darted through the jungle and followed his voice until they found him in a brawl with one of Snarl's men. They reached the scene just in time to see Jack thrust his sword through the man's stomach. The wounded man stumbled for a moment before falling limply onto Jack, who threw his body aside and let it drop heavily to the ground.

"About time ye show up,"

"We got lost," Rae told him apologetically.

"Seems to be a lot of that going around," he said coolly while putting his sword away.

"I told you we couldn't leave without him!" Carly yelled angrily at Rae and Will. Jack couldn't help but let the smallest hint of a smile flash across his face as she chewed them out, but he supposed he would've appreciated it more if he hadn't been preoccupied with the thought of how much danger they were in. Just as he expected, their reunion was interrupted when a gunshot sounded throughout the jungle and a bullet grazed the tree nearest to Jack. They barely had time to draw their weapons before six or seven of Snarl's pirates surrounded them, armed with swords, pistols, and machetes. Knowing it would be unwise to fight against them, Jack lowered his pistol and glanced at the others, eyeing Will especially and hoping he wouldn't pick this moment to do anything stupid.

"What do you want," Rae spoke to the pirates. The man in front of her struck her across the face with his hand, and when Will charged forward to attack the man, two others pulled him back while the rest of the men took a hold of Jack, Rae, and Carly and led them through the jungle at gunpoint.

They walked along in silence, and before long they had come upon the edge of the jungle. Ahead of them was the giant mansion enclosed in an iron gate and guarded by four of Snarl's men. Two of the men went to the mansion to inform the Captain of their arrival, while the other two stepped forward to unlock the gate as they approached. This time, however, they were not stripped of their weapons. Instead they were escorted up to the doors of the mansion and into the foyer by the two guards and their captors.

Will looked around at the place; on either side were stairways that led up to one hall where they converged, looking down on the foyer, much like Governor Swann's mansion in Port Royal. Jack caught Will's eye and discretely put his hand on the handle of his sword. Will did the same and looked to Rae and Carly, who followed his example. One of the men noticed Carly making her move and grabbed her by the arm. She ducked as Jack swiftly drew his sword and cut the man's throat. Rae and Will followed his lead, swinging at the men with their swords in one hand and shooting at them with their pistols in the other hand. They were soon joined by the rest of Snarl's crew, pooling in from the hallways on either side and down from the stairways. The crew began to surround Jack, Will, Rae, and Carly, and somehow Jack's expression remained calm.

"We could use one of your ideas now!" Will yelled to him. Seconds later, Norrington's crew burst through the doors. Many of them looked shocked when they realized what they were up against, and they promptly joined the fight. It didn't take long for several men from the Royal Navy to fall, and it was clear that they would need far more help if they were to overpower Snarl's crew. Carly briefly scanned the crowd, and although Will and Jack were not to be seen, she jumped forward just in time to catch the wrist of a man just as he was about to stab Rae. She plunged her sword through his stomach and pulled Rae down.

"Have you seen Snarl?" she asked her.

Rae shook her head. "No – look out!" She jumped up and caught someone's sword before he could slice Carly's head in two. She yelled when another man grabbed her and held onto her around the stomach, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Rae!" Will shouted. He began to hurry towards her and stopped when he took a blow to the back of his head. He closed his eyes for a moment and turned to see who had punched him.

"Enough!" a voice roared. The room went silent, the fighting ceased, and all eyes looked up to the top of the stairs where Captain Snarl stood. "Bring the girls."

"No!" Rae struggled against the man holding her and saw that Carly was being taken as well. Jack and Will were held back by Norrington's men while Snarl's crew cheered and dragged the two girls out of the mansion towards the dock that was outside. Snarl's ship was the only one there, as every other ship was at the other side of the island at the docks in Corcova. Snarl walked past the Commodore and merely smirked at him without saying a word, and followed his crew to the ship. Norrington walked out of the mansion after him with a look on his face that showed he was clearly infuriated. The Royal Navy hurried out of the mansion behind him, still holding onto Will and Jack who were struggling against them and cursing loudly as Snarl's crew boarded their ship, dragging Carly and Rae aboard with them.


	18. She's Safe, Just Like He Promised

Chapter Eighteen – She's Safe, Just Like He Promised

Two Royal Navy men latched onto Will's arms in an effort to restrain him as he shouted at the Commodore. "You let him take them! You let him!"

"Mr. Turner!" Norrington raised the tip of his sword to Will's neck to silence him. "That was a foul move you pulled back on the Dauntless, both of you, and I will not tolerate it." He eyed Jack as well. "I want to know where the knife is."

"The knife is with Snarl," Jack said. Norrington's jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth in frustration. One of his men approached.

"Commodore, we'll never catch him. Our ship is on the other side of the island. And we've lost about a third of our men, sir."

"I suggest we take the Pearl,"

"I don't recall asking for your suggestion Mr. Sparrow, need I remind you that you will hang beside Mr. Turner once we return to Port Royal."

"Perhaps you should consider my suggestion, unless of course you would like Snarl to get away with killing Elizabeth, presumably Rae, and Carly, as well as many others including several of your men, Commodore, if I'm not mistaken. With a ship half as fast as his and a third of your men gone, you don't stand a chance. We take the Black Pearl. I'll round up the Pearl's crew and Rae's crew from the Contentious in Corcova. You and your men agree to fight alongside them, and you leave Snarl to Mr. Turner and myself."

Norrington considered Jack's suggestion, and after some time he extended his hand. "Agreed."

"Agreed," Jack repeated and shook the commodore's hand.

-----

Rae and Carly sat below the deck of Snarl's ship. Rae sat slouched down against the wall in their cell with one leg crossed over the other out in front of her. Carly sat at the wall across from her. It smelled of rot and death.

"How are we going to get off this ship?" Carly asked.

"We're not."

"We can't be that far from shore, we could – "

"We could what?"

"I don't know. But if Jack or Norrington were to –"

"Don't get your hopes up."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing. You don't understand what he's – what's going to happen to us."

"I do understand!" Rae yelled. "Six years ago Snarl killed my mother and kidnapped me. I was on this ship for a few days; I know what happened at the mansion when you were stupid enough to run ahead of us. Fortunately, Jack saved me. I don't think we'll be so lucky this time."

"Why not?"

"Why are we here in the first place? Norrington doesn't care about us, at least not enough to risk any more of his men to save us. With Norrington to slow them down, Jack and Will can't help us. He's probably carting them off to Port Royal in irons as we speak."

"But from what I understand, Jack and Will were going after Snarl because he killed Elizabeth. Doesn't that make them allies of the Royal Navy?"

"Even so, they're not privateers, nor are we. And besides, we knocked Norrington unconscious, stole his keys, took the knife, and escaped from his ship. There won't be anyone coming to rescue us, and if by chance Norrington does decide to help us after he locks up Jack and Will, Snarl will have killed us before the Royal Navy can reach this ship. It was Snarl who told Jack about the treasure at Isla de Muerta - back when Jack was captain of the Black Pearl. After Jack saved me he let me stay on a ship with him where he looked after me. A couple years ago Jack and I got separated. We got caught in a storm; the ship caught fire and exploded, probably from gunpowder. I learned a lot from Jack, and eventually I became captain of the Contentious. We came to a bar in Tortuga and that's when I met Jack again. I saw him sitting with a young man, so I walked up to their table with a couple drinks in my hands and said hello. When he told me about Will's fiancée being killed, and about the dagger that had been left behind, I knew at once that it was Snarl's doing. And so how is it that a girl such as yourself ended up on my ship in Tortuga?"

"You took the necklace that I saw first, I watched you board your ship and I followed."

"And what of your travels before then?"

"I haven't got an elaborate life story to tell you, sorry to disappoint." Carly answered. "And what's more, you've never wanted to know anything about me until now. You've been rude to me ever since you found me on your ship."

"What did you expect after sneaking onto my ship? I should've thrown you overboard when I found ye, still have half a mind to if we ever do get off this damn ship."

"I thought we might've had something in common, it's not too often you find a woman on a ship."

"So tell me how you came to be one of those women."

"No."

"We've got the time. Thought I'd give ye the chance to talk seeing as you never want to shut up any other time."

"And I thank you for giving me permission to do so. I wouldn't want to insult you by speaking out of turn. So tell me Captain Rae, why is it that you hate me?"

"Shall I name a few reasons?"

"Wait, I know. You hate me because until recently I've refused to address you as 'Captain', and I have never acted as part of your crew or taken orders from you. Obviously I have little to no respect for you and I could not possibly comprehend how difficult it is for one to earn their place as captain of a ship, and I fail to recognize your superiority to me by sneaking onto your ship and posing a threat to you and your crew."

"Well for thing I – "

"Hold your tongue, I'm not finished. I also make passes at Captain Sparrow and flaunt myself at him every chance I get in my attempts to steal him from you, even though I'm aware that that is not my territory and all I ever manage to do is annoy him, and you, because I am a whore."

"That's why I don't like you – because you're sarcastic and rude, and you act like a child, a spoiled, snotty child that constantly needs attention. And you fancy Captain Sparrow."

"You fancy William."

"You didn't deny that fact that you fancy Jack," Rae was quick to point out. "I had him first."

Carly groaned and buried her face in her hands. She desperately wished she had her pistol. "This is absurd. Do you realize that we are arguing over a man whose only love is the sea and at the same time, you're pursuing a man who is grieving for his fiancée?"

Rae thought about the situation and fixed her eyes on the floor. They sat in silence for quite some time until Carly finally spoke again.

"Elizabeth liked to tell me stories. She was older than me, so naturally I believed most of the things she told me. One night she'd told me that Blackbeard's ghost was going to kidnap me and hold me captive on his ship. I was too scared to sleep, so I had gone downstairs to tell my parents. I could hear them arguing through the door to the dining room, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. A week or two later, my father and Elizabeth were gone and my mother and I were forced to move out of the mansion. All she would tell me was that they had gone to the Caribbean and would send for us soon enough. Of course they never did, and it wasn't long after that until my mother died. Then I set out to find Elizabeth and my father."

"How?"

"I swam. Stopped every once in a while to chat with the shrimp and the seahorses. I thought we bonded." She paused while Rae rolled her eyes. "I disguised myself as a boy, snuck onto a few ships."

"Did they ever find out you were a girl?"

"Sometimes."

"And what then?"

"I told you I didn't have an elaborate life story, if I offered the details then they would make it elaborate."

"I would like to hear the details as well," a girl's voice said. Rae and Carly jumped upon hearing the sound of another prisoner.

"We didn't know anyone else was here," Rae said.

"I'm on the other side of the wall, in the cell next to yours. Did you ever find your sister, Carly?"

"No." Carly looked at Rae, wondering how the girl knew her name. Rae shrugged. "What's your name?"

"Elizabeth."


	19. The Opportune Moment

**Disclaimer**—we own PotC. But just the DVD's. We have no rights to anything, etc.

Chapter Nineteen – The Opportune Moment

Jack stopped and looked over his shoulder to be sure that no one was following him. He had told Norrington and his men that it would be in their best interest to stay at the Black Pearl because their presence in Corcova would cause a panic. Corcova was a place of disarray and illegal activity, the last place for any law-abiding person to be – especially the Commodore. Despite his warnings, Jack suspected that Norrington would not obey willingly.

"How will we find them?" Will asked.

"They're pirates. Where do ye find a pirate when he's not at sea?"

"Home,"

"Home? The sea is their home." He walked ahead and pointed towards a tavern.

"Jack! Now is not the time to be looking for rum!"

"It's the perfect time." Jack smirked and entered the tavern.

-----

Captain Snarl sat at the head of the table in the middle of a dim candlelit room. He looked around the table at Carly, Rae, and Elizabeth. They were silent, due to mixed feelings of fear and hatred of Snarl. There were several platters of food and two bottles of wine set before them, although no one dared to touch anything until given permission.

"I didn't have all this food prepared just for me," Snarl said at last. "Help yourselves." They did as they were told without hesitation; they were starving and also quite thirsty. Two of the captain's men waited by the door and watched the girls as they ate. Carly was the first to empty her goblet of wine. She swallowed a few bites of her dinner and then promptly refilled her goblet and took another swig. Snarl watched her as she moved the goblet to her lips to drink and then set it back on the table. "You like the wine, I take it," he said.

"What I would like is to shove my knife down your throat," she replied. She winced when Elizabeth kicked her underneath the table as a warning that she was on dangerous ground.

Snarl laughed and continued to eat his dinner. "Never have I met a girl who has such a love for getting herself into trouble."

"Isn't it bad luck to have a woman aboard a ship? And you have three," Carly said, gulping down her second drink of wine.

"If that's true then perhaps I ought to stop feeding you and let ye starve to death so we'll have one less token of bad luck."

"You'll have to excuse her," Rae said to him, "Carly was dropped on her head as a baby, and what with all the seawater she's swallowed and the sun constantly beating down on her head, she's not all there. She doesn't know when to shut her mouth." She stressed the last sentence, eyeing Carly.

"How unfortunate. Nevertheless, if she fails to learn to shut her mouth, I shall just have to shut it for her." He took the goblet from Carly's hands and fixed his eyes on her. "Understand?"

"I'm not afraid." She said. She watched him fill her goblet with wine once again.

"You're very foolish."

"What should I be afraid of? That you'll kill me like you've so easily been able to kill Rae and Jack?"

"Of course not, child. I enjoy having the three of you here while Jack chases after me. And when he comes heroically to your rescue, he will die, and you can rest assured that you will be there to see every second of his death. I'm looking forward to this, aren't you?" he smiled at Carly. Elizabeth glared at him and muttered an insult under her breath. Snarl rose from his seat and stood over Elizabeth, gripping her shoulders and threatening her with his face just inches from hers. He spun around when he felt something strike the back of his head; standing behind him was Carly with her hand in a fist. He kept his eyes on Carly and addressed the two men by the door. "Lock those two in the brig," he ordered, pointing towards Rae and Elizabeth.

-----

Will looked around at the tavern. He sat with Jack in a dark corner away from the whores, away from the thieves flaunting their stolen treasures, and away from the laughing and joking of the people of Corcova that would have been welcoming, had they been there under different circumstances.

"What's your plan, Jack? Say we do catch up to Snarl's ship, what then? We may have more men on our side this time, but you know as well as I do that we still have no means of getting our hands on that dagger." He watched Jack drink his rum as if he hadn't heard a word Will had said. Will shook his head and looked down at his own mug of rum. "I suppose it doesn't matter. Killing Snarl won't bring Elizabeth back."

"I was beginning to think ye'd forgotten about her," said Jack.

Will narrowed his eyes at him, angry. "How could I forget her?"

"Didn't seem to think much of her when you were wandering off drunk with Rachel."

Will slammed his hand down on the table and glared at Sparrow. "I loved Elizabeth and I always will, nothing will change that," he said fiercely, daring Jack to question him. "We both know why she's dead."

Jack said nothing to this. A moment later, a group of pirates barged into the tavern, causing a disruption with their cheers and laughs. They were greeted at once by the whores and given a fair share of rum. Will recognized the men to be Rae's crew.

-----

Carly sat quietly at the table across from Snarl, avoiding his eyes. Her gaze wandered throughout the room, taking in her surroundings. She could feel the effects of the wine, but she had acquired a high enough tolerance for alcohol that she could think clearly. Snarl kept his eyes on her and poured himself another drink.

"Would ye like another?" he asked, offering her the bottle of wine.

"No."

"Good. You hardly need it." He set the bottle down and walked around the table to Carly. She looked at him suspiciously as he spoke into her ear. "I hope you enjoy your new sleeping arrangement," he smirked, glancing at his small one-person bed. Carly glared at him with disgust. Now that she had succeeded in getting herself alone with the captain, she was beginning to regret it. She stood quickly when Snarl put his hands on her shoulders. She stumbled as the ship rocked, allowing herself to fall limply to the floor as if she had passed out from the wine. She found the act quite easy to do. Snarl hardly seemed to care; he kicked her body out of the way and walked around the table to finish his drink.

Carly kept her eyes shut tight and listened until he went to bed. She waited at least a couple hours, not daring to move or let herself drift into sleep. When she was sure he had fallen asleep, she stood and quietly went to the side of the bed. She could see the jeweled handle of the dagger sticking out from his belt. She reached out for it and carefully tried to pull it out without waking him. Snarl began to stir. Carly quickly withdrew her hand and held her breath, hoping he wouldn't wake. Once he settled, she reached for the knife once again. She was nervous; her palms were sweaty and she needed to hold onto the knife with both hands to steady herself as she held the blade to Snarl's throat. She jumped and gasped when she heard banging on the door. Without delay she threw herself back down on the floor where she had been before and hid the knife under her stomach, just as Snarl awoke.

Snarl grumbled and made his way to the door. He looked at the two men standing before him: one was an older pirate with a murderous look about him, and the other was a younger man who couldn't have been more than a couple years older than Carly. It was the older man who spoke.

"The Black Pearl, she's gaining on us," he informed the captain.

Snarl grabbed a fistful of the younger pirate's shirt and threw him into the room. "Watch her," he ordered, glancing suspiciously at Carly. He gave the young man a warning look, and then proceeded to shut the door and follow the older pirate on deck.

-----

Rae sat across from Elizabeth in their cell below deck on Snarl's ship. Each girl had the same subject on her mind – Will Turner. Rae thought of how he had always been a gentleman around her, even when he was drunk. She had thought that she might have had a chance with Will. Not only did she have no chance with him now that Elizabeth was alive, but she had begun to regret being so forward with Will while he was mourning the loss of his fiancée. She almost resented Elizabeth, although she knew that was a horrible thing. _It isn't her fault _she thought, _it's just my luck. _

Elizabeth looked down at the floor. Carly's words were running through her mind again and again. _You fancy William. _She didn't want to believe that her dashing William had anything to do with the female pirate sitting across from her. She was hurt. She wondered how Will had forgotten her so easily. "I gather that you were aware that Mr. Turner was engaged," she said quietly to Rae.

"Has that changed?" Rae asked.

Elizabeth thought Rae could answer better than she could. "Has it?"

Rae couldn't ignore the bitterness in Elizabeth's voice. "Please don't be angry with me."

"No, of course not. It would've been foolish of me to think that a blacksmith turned pirate could truly love the governor's daughter."

"We thought you were dead," Rae said.

"And he's forgotten me already."

"Quite the contrary. He's risking his life because of you. And not for the first time, so I'm told."

"How do you pretend to comfort me after having what one might call an affair with my fiancé? Is it that you have no morals, or does being a pirate simply spare you the burden of having any feelings of guilt?"

"I would hardly call trying to help a man in pain a reason to feel guilt." Rae retaliated. "We kissed, that's all." Elizabeth said nothing in return. She and Rae looked up when they heard rushed footsteps above deck.

-----

"Load the guns!" Snarl shouted. The men fumbled about while the captain was barking orders at them. Many of the pirates were only half-dressed and grumbling about being rudely awoken so early. It was almost an hour before sunrise, and there was just enough light out for them to be able to see the approaching ship.

-----

Carly listened to the young man kneel down beside her. She kept her hand on the dagger under her stomach, and without warning, she moved to stab him in the gut. He caught her wrist and held it a safe distance away as she fought with him. He was taken aback when he recognized the knife in her hand to be Snarl's dagger. She hit him across the face with her free hand and jumped on him in her efforts to stab him. He pushed her off and held her down on the floor.

"Stop!" he yelled.

"No!"

"I can't help you if you slit my throat, miss," he pleaded with her.

Carly stopped struggling against him and looked at his face. He didn't seem like the typical brute that would be found on Snarl's ship. "I need the keys," she said. He let go of her and began to look for the keys. She stood and watched him, still holding onto the knife. She tucked the dagger safely away on her herself and found hers and Rae's weapons. She secured both their swords about her and stowed their pistols away on herself. The man handed her the keys and went to the window to see what was happening on deck.

"You must hurry," he warned.

She was truly surprised at how willing he had been to help her. "Thank you," she said.

He nodded once, and for a moment the two simply stood there and looked at each other. "Go, hurry," he said finally.

-----

The ships were set to engage in battle. Commodore Norrington and Captain Snarl commanded their men to fire simultaneously. The sounds of cannon fire echoed over the ocean. Will and Jack were among the first to head over to Snarl's ship, closely followed by about half of the Pearl's crew, Rae's crew, and the Royal Navy, while the others stayed behind to defend the ship. Will looked to his side where Jack had been a second before, but Jack was nowhere to be seen. He turned his attention instead to killing as many of Snarl's men as he could.

Will punched one of the men in the face with the handle of his sword and threw him overboard. Turning around, he found himself face to face with the captain. They fought for only a few short seconds before Snarl thrust the blade of his cutlass into Will's abdomen, catching him off guard. Will yelled out in pain and dropped his sword, clutching the wound to his stomach. He fell to his knees and looked up at the captain as the blood soaked his shirt. Snarl smirked and kicked Will in the chest before moving on to his next victim.

-----

Rae jumped to her feet when she saw Carly. "Carly! Carly?"

"Yes?" asked Carly as she unlocked the cell door.

"How did you – "

"What's happening on deck?" Elizabeth asked.

"The Black Pearl." Carly answered. She handed Rae her sword and pistol.

Elizabeth looked between the two girls. "Don't I get a sword?"

"Yes, once we're on deck." Carly said.

"Give me _something!_" she demanded, reaching for Carly's sword.

Carly pushed Elizabeth's hand away and kept her sword from her reach. She saw Rae guarding her own weapons as well. "Get your own!"

"Carly! You don't know how to use that thing anyway,"

"I most certainly do," Carly retorted, insulted.

"Well I'm older than you, give it to me."

Carly rolled her eyes and thrust her pistol into Elizabeth's hand, not willing to part with her sword. "There, now come on!"

Rae and Elizabeth followed Carly as she hurried to the stairway. They stopped on the stairs when they heard swords clashing and men's voices above. They heard one of the men cry out in pain and they moved aside just in time as he came tumbling down the stairs. They watched him land at the bottom in a heap, and when they looked back towards the top of the stairway, they saw his opponent standing there with a satisfied look on his face and his sword in hand.

"Jack!" cried Carly.

"Darling," he smiled at her. He froze and his expression changed as if he had seen a ghost. "Elizabeth…that's interesting."

**Author's Note from Rachel**

Vampire Visions- Hey, Jen was the one who read your story. She wasn't accusing you of plagiarism, but just wanted to point out that there were similarities and that she liked your story. I'm sorry for any confusion that may have caused.

For people who have read and reviewed with criticism:

Can you be more specific and make things helpful? Also, it'd be good if people were gentle…although that's not as important and making it useful.

What holes are in our plot?

When are our characters out of character? Chapter? Section? Which character?

And our characters really aren't that much like us. Rae is like me because of her name, looks (kind of) and somewhat her attitude. Carly is like Jen in her looks, and stubbornness (note from Jen: Gee, thanks Rach : ) )

As for modern morals and names…Rachel is a biblical name, so it's been around a long time. So, we shortened it to Rae, yes. It's also the female version of Ray/Raymond. Modern morals? Pirates. Enough about that.

Arynn, thank you for commenting on the immaturities in chapter 11 I believe it was. Jen went back to fix it.

Just because there weren't many _famous_ female pirates and captains doesn't mean they weren't there… plus, this is just a story.

Rae may seem weak, she's a rape victim and was forced to grow up quite quickly. She's damaged, but who isn't? She can be strong when she has to be.

Oh, and Rae was partially based on Ann Bonnie—famous female pirate captain.

On another note, we have a myspace account for this story. Please add us!

Our username is **potc(UNDERSCORE)unwantedpast**.

Once we finish this, we're going to do a parody. We can't wait to make fun of our story.

Thanks everyone for reading! Tell us what you think about this chapter being longer, and any other things you want to say something about.

-Rachel


	20. Complications Ensue

Chapter 20 – Complications Ensue

"Captain Sparrow," said Elizabeth. Jack flinched at the severity of her words. "Why was I kidnapped? What did you do this time, Jack?"

"Well, it seems that – " but before he could get another word out, Elizabeth slapped him across the face.

"Where is Will?" she demanded.

"Your dear William is above deck, likely slashing the throats of as many of Snarl's men as he can with his fancy footwork and all," he said, moving his hands around to demonstrate. Elizabeth slapped him once again.

"You can beat Jack later. We are wasting time," Rae said.

"That we are. Now, it is imperative that you get back to the Pearl as quickly as possible, because there is a slight chance that this ship may unexpectedly catch fire, explode, and sink." He led the girls up the stairs and began to scamper off in the opposite direction as Rae and Elizabeth.

"Wait! Jack!" Carly called. She hurried after him and caught his shoulder, just as he turned to face her. She became distracted for a moment by how close his face was to hers. A gunshot nearby prompted her to pull out Snarl's dagger and hand it over to Jack. He looked briefly at the knife before stuffing it into his vest.

"Get back to the Pearl," he told her. Carly watched him speed off into the crowd. He grabbed his two Royal Navy buddies, Murtogg and Mullroy, who conveniently never strayed far from each other. "Gentlemen, if you'd be so kind as to accompany me,"

"Mr. Sparrow!"

"Where are you taking us?" the chubbier of the two asked, skeptically.

"Below deck. Where they keep the gunpowder."

-----

Back on the Black Pearl, Commodore Norrington watched the frantic fight occurring on Snarl's ship. He wondered how he had become entangled in a fight between pirates, and he wasn't sure which side he should be favoring. He furrowed his eyebrows when he heard squawking in his ear. He looked to his side and saw Mr. Cotton standing there with his parrot perched on his shoulder.

"Don't do anything stupid!" the parrot shrieked.

-----

Rae fought furiously to fend off a swarm of Snarl's pirates. Elizabeth had resorted to using Rae as a human shield; she was finding Carly's malfunctioning pistol to be of little use to her.

"I could use a little help here!" Rae yelled.

"And how am I to do that?" Elizabeth asked, angrily.

"Use the pistol!" Rae bellowed, blocking a sword that had come dangerously close to slicing her in half. Elizabeth looked hopelessly at the pistol. She swung it and hit the nearest man in the face. She grabbed the man's sword and kicked him overboard.

Jack emerged on deck just in time to stop one of Snarl's men from attacking Elizabeth from behind. He stabbed the man in the back and helped Rae and Elizabeth finish off three of the surrounding pirates.

"Where is Will?" Elizabeth asked him. This seemed to strike something in Jack. Mr. Turner was probably off doing something stupid. He then pulled the dagger out from his vest and handed it to Rae.

"Hurry," he told her. Before she could react, he sped off in search of Will.

-----

Carly had lost sight of Rae and Elizabeth amongst all the commotion. She supposed they had gone over to the Pearl by now as Jack had so urgently ordered them to do. Hearing Murtogg and Mullroy shouting commands to return to the Pearl, she went to the side of the ship and stepped up onto the railing. She grabbed hold of a rope and was about to swing over to the Pearl when someone slashed the side of her leg just above her knee with their sword. She gasped and let the rope slip from her grasp, nearly losing her balance and falling overboard. She drew her sword and jumped back down onto the deck, only to see that her attacker was Captain Snarl.

"This is no place for a lady. I could've sworn I left you safe and sound in my cabin."

Carly swung at him with her sword, but he was far more skilled than she had anticipated. He hit her across the face with the hand that held his sword. She stumbled backwards and made a weak attempt at swinging back at him. The captain kicked the sword out of her hand and swung violently at her. She ducked and felt around on herself for her pistol and the dagger. Snarl laughed at the helpless girl on her knees before him, searching desperately for a weapon. He grabbed her chin and tilted her head up towards him.

"Good bye, my dear." He kissed her forehead and then raised his sword to stab her. But he froze; he felt a searing pain in his back between his shoulder blades. He turned and saw Rae standing behind him with his knife in her hand, the blade covered in his blood. She stabbed him a second time, this time in the chest. Elizabeth grabbed Carly's hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Why do you insist on getting yourself into trouble?" Rae asked.

Commodore Norrington addressed the girls upon their return to the Black Pearl. It appeared that they were the last ones to come back; most of the navy, the Pearl's crew, and Rae's crew had already returned.

"It seems Mr. Sparrow and Mr. Turner have fallen behind. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe that according to the pirates' code, any man who falls behind, is left behind." He said to the girls.

"Not to rain on your parade, Commodore, but it seems that Sparrow and Turner haven't fallen behind after all." Rae pointed out. Elizabeth's heart leapt when she saw Jack arrive on the deck of the Black Pearl, carrying a limp and bloody Will. Jack ordered Rae to steer the Pearl away from Snarl's ship, which now had smoke rising from it. Meanwhile, Jack lifted Will's bloodied shirt to examine the wound. Suddenly, a loud boom echoed over the sea from Snarl's ship exploding.

-----

Jack came out of the captain's cabin with a bottle of rum in his hand after bandaging up Will's wound as best he could. He sat beside Carly on deck and drank from the bottle.

"Is he going to die?" she asked him.

He swallowed and handed the bottle to her. "Elizabeth's in there with him."

Carly to a swig of rum, wondering if that answered her question. She passed the bottle back to him, and as she did so, she remembered what she had said to Rae back on Snarl's ship about Jack's only love being the sea. She had said it instinctively and only to win in their argument, but she had never truly considered it. She finally realized that Jack had been holding the bottle of rum out for her, waiting for her to take it. She shook her head and rejected it.

Rae stood by the edge of the ship, looking out at the sea. She turned around, leaning against the rail for support, and looked at Jack and Carly.

"They seem to have bonded," she said quietly under her breath.

Elizabeth walked out on deck, wiping her tears away. Rae and the others looked up at her, afraid of what she was about to say.


	21. Cruel and Unusual Punishment

**Chapter Twenty-One – Cruel and Unusual Punishment**

"I think Will is going to be alright," Elizabeth said. Everyone sighed relief at the news that dear William was still alive. "His breathing steadied, and he spoke to me,"

"Well, I think this calls for a celebration. Drinks all around!" Jack announced.

-----

The pirates sang and laughed as they drank after Captain Sparrow had given them permission to break into the stash of rum on board. Meanwhile, Norrington and his navy looked upon the pirates' uncivilized behavior with disgust. The commodore didn't care for sharing a ship with these filthy, drunken men. He had half a mind to lock every one of them in the brig, after a good share of them had passed out from the rum of course, and take control of the ship himself.

Jack, Rae, Carly, and Elizabeth were gathered around Will in the captain's cabin. They could hear the loud voices of the men enjoying themselves on deck, making it nearly impossible for Will to get any rest. He didn't mind; he was glad that there were multiple things to celebrate, and the most important thing in his mind was that Elizabeth was, in fact, alive.

"Does it hurt?" Rae asked him.

"No, of course not." He answered, making her smile. He noticed Jack looking longingly towards the door that was separating him from the rum. The men on deck had started to quiet down. "Don't deprive yourselves on my account, you'd better go get some rum before there isn't any left," he told them.

"Are you sure?" Rae was hesitant to leave him.

"Yes, go on," Will smiled. Rae and Carly left the cabin to go join in the drunken fun.

"Care to join us, love?" Jack asked Elizabeth, remembering what fun they had last time she drank.

"No thank you Jack," she politely declined.

"Pity…" He crossed the room and stopped at the door to look back at them. "There better not be any funny business going on if I leave you two alone unsupervised in my cabin. The whelp needs his rest." he warned them.

"Jack!" Elizabeth yelled, offended.

Jack narrowed his eyes at them and gave them once last look before leaving the cabin. No sooner had he closed the door than he was hit over the head and knocked unconscious by the commodore.

"Tie him up," Norrington ordered. Two of his men had been covering Rae and Carly's mouths so they couldn't yell to warn Jack, and their wrists and ankles had already been bound with rope. The rest of the pirates that had been drinking on deck were nowhere in sight.

------

Jack awoke with a massive headache. "Bloody 'ell..." He looked around, seeing Rae and Carly tied up, and then he noticed the ropes around his own wrists and ankles.

"Good day, Mr. Sparrow," Commodore Norrington smiled at Jack.

"Captain." he corrected, angry with Norrington.

"Ah yes, and what a wonderful captain you are," Norrington's words dripped with sarcasm.

"Well what are you going to do now that you have us tied up, _Commodore_?" Rae questioned.

"First we must get the Dauntless, and then we will take you all back to Port Royal, where your punishment shall be determined."

-----

Commodore Norrington escorted Elizabeth and Will to the governor's mansion while Murtogg and Mullroy escorted the pirates to the jail.

"Elizabeth! You're alive," the governor was shocked to see his daughter.

She nodded in response, holding Will's hand. "Yes, father."

"Governor Swann. She was in the company of pirates once again. Mr. Turner joined Mr. Sparrow and two other pirates to rescue her. They are locked in a cell at the jail…besides Mr. Turner here who seems to have evaded punishment," he added in an undertone, somewhat grudgingly, "and are awaiting their punishment for piracy, sir."

"They saved my daughter."

"Yes. But I don't think it is very wise to make a habit of letting pirates escape, especially Mr. Sparrow. The law says that anyone who engages in piracy is to be punished."

"Yes, Commodore. That will be taken into account."

"Father, I ask that you speak to them before making any decisions," Elizabeth said. "Please…"

The Governor nodded and looked back at the commodore. "I wish to speak with them,"

"Yes sir." The Commodore said. Will escorted Elizabeth out of the mansion. Norrington stopped Governor Swann before he went to the door. "There's one more thing. Elizabeth's sister is there."

------

They arrived at the jail and were taken to the pirates' cell. Not one of the three prisoners looked very happy, and Carly was disappointed to see that her father wasn't the least bit excited to see her.

"You three are to be hung. But my daughter has asked that I hear what you have to say first."

"The _three_ of us are to be hung?" Rae stood and went to the cell door. "You would hang your own daughter?" she asked the governor, meaning Carly.

"I have not had any contact with that girl in almost ten years, and unfortunately she has engaged in piracy."

"To find _you!_" Carly stood and yelled at him. "You left me! What was I to do when my mother died? I was homeless, I '_engaged in piracy'_, if that's what you would like to call it, to find you!"

"Do not speak to me like that! Your mother was unfaithful and as far as I'm concerned, you are no different than the two pirates beside you."

"I've never stolen…much…and I've never killed anyone, not unless I had to."

"Her pistol doesn't even work half the time," Rae chimed in.

"And you should be aware of one very important thing, mate," Jack finally spoke. "Carly was the one who got us the knife that was the key to killing Snarl, the man we all _thought_ killed Elizabeth."

"Oh for goodness sake…" The governor couldn't believe that they were defending Carly, and he was becoming annoyed, as was the Commodore. Governor Swann thought for a moment, and at last he spoke to Carly again. "Do you wish to stay in Port Royal?"

Carly hesitated before she gave an answer. Neither Jack nor Rae was offering her a place on either of their ships, and she didn't think she belonged on one anyway. "Yes," she answered.

"Then you will have to marry a respectable man. You will learn to be a lady…and I hope someone can get that awful smell out of you. I will not let word of this get out; if anyone knew that I was connected to a pirate…" the governor shuddered at the thought. "From this moment on, you and Commodore Norrington should consider yourselves engaged."

"What?" Carly thought she had misheard him.

"What?" everyone followed in questioning the Governor's order, including Norrington himself.

"Governor, she is a pirate! I couldn't possibly – "

"This is not open for debate, Commodore. And as for you two," the governor continued, looking to Rae and Jack. "You will be hung as – "

"Father, they don't deserve to be hung either." Elizabeth said. "Without Captain Rae and Jack I would've never been rescued."

"And there are worse things than death that Snarl could've done to her, without our help," Rae added.

Jack could see the governor's eyes soften. "And Carly could've stayed a pirate, out on the open water, and then everybody would know that your daughter was a pirate and it could've ruined everything you've got here."

"He has a point," Will agreed.

"Alright," the governor said.

"What? You can't honestly be considering letting them go. You are bound by the law!" the Commodore was outraged.

"You are to leave, and stay away from Port Royal. Should you ever return, you will be hung upon your arrival. Is that understood?" Governor Swann said, ignoring the commodore.

"Aye," the captains said in unison.


	22. Fair Winds

Chapter Twenty-Two - Fair Winds

"Then it's settled. You will be escorted to your ship tomorrow morning at dawn," the governor said to Rae and Jack.

"Couldn't we postpone their departure until after the wedding?" Elizabeth asked.

"The wedding?"

"Yes. Will and I wish to be married as soon as possible, the day after tomorrow, perhaps." She glanced at Jack before continuing. "We would like Captain Sparrow and Rae to be there."

"A wedding will be arranged. But I certainly will not allow Mr. Sparrow and his friend to be present. They will leave at dawn as I've said. Now we really must be going, it will be dark soon." The governor turned to leave.

"What about Carly?" Will stopped him. "You can't have meant to leave her locked up. Aren't you going to let her out?"

"Oh. Yes, I suppose so." Governor Swann nodded at Murtogg and Mullroy to come forward and set Carly free. Mullroy cleared his throat and whistled for the dog. He bent down when the dog came running up to him and patted it on the head while Murtogg took the keys from its mouth. Carly watched Norrington take the keys from Murtogg and step up to the cell door. He put the key into the lock and glanced at her before turning it. He hesitated to open the door and reluctantly stepped back for her.

"My sword and pistol?" she asked.

"You have no need for them," said the governor.

"They're mine."

"Well you will just have to do without them. Step out of the doorway so Commodore Norrington can close the cell."

Carly walked past the commodore, both of them keeping their eyes on each other as she did so. Jack made to follow her as if no one would notice him slip out, but he was abruptly stopped when Norrington slammed the door in his face and locked it.

"Our carriage is waiting outside, take her please," the governor instructed Murtogg and Mullroy. Carly looked back at Jack and Rae as the two navy men took hold of her arms and led her out of the jail. "Go, I'll be there in a moment," he said to Elizabeth and Will. "I would like a word with you," he told Norrington before walking out after Elizabeth and Will.

"Our drunken crews will be wanting out of the brig before we set sail tomorrow," Rae said to the commodore as he threw the keys to the dog. "I believe you have yet to return the keys to Captain Sparrow, their rightful owner."

"I suppose by pirate standards commandeering a ship would make you the rightful owner. Anyone who steals to make a living deserves to hang, and instead they're allowing filth like you to roam free and continue your unlawful habits, lucky for you. But you're not free yet, Mr. Sparrow, and until then your keys will remain in my possession."

"I hope you enjoy yourself at Miss Swann and _Mr. Turner's _wedding. Unfortunately, Captain Rae and myself will be unable to attend, but lucky for you, you'll be there to see the whole ceremony. I love weddings, you know. Two souls uniting in holy matrimony, to love and to care for each other, to keep each other warm at night. Who would've thought she'd choose a blacksmith over a commodore, eh?" Jack smiled. "Do us a favor and send the happy couple my best wishes."

Norrington narrowed his eyes at Jack, angered. He turned and walked out of the jail where Governor Swann had been patiently waiting for him with his hands resting behind his back.

"Ah, Commodore,"

"Governor, with all due respect, I must question your decision for me to marry Carly. She is a pirate."

"And what would you have me do? Let her roam free, knowing what she is capable of? She is unpredictable and dangerous, and I am asking you to civilize her and keep her out of trouble as long as she is here. I cannot have her leave Port Royal and risk any of this getting out, you know as well as I do that it would cause serious trouble."

Norrington glanced over at the carriage where Elizabeth, Will, and Carly were waiting. "So you are asking me to lie, to pretend that she is some girl of noble class?" Norrington asked, turning back to the governor. "No one will believe it."

"She'll learn to be a lady. Hopefully someone can scrape off the dirt and get the horrible stench out of her. You'll speak for her in public, all she has to do is stand there and look decent and agree with you."

"But sir, wouldn't someone else be better suited for her, someone besides a military man. Someone such as a blacksmith, or a fisherman perhaps."

"Do you mean to be insulting?"

"No sir, I was merely giving an example."

"I am not asking you to care for her or love her, I am asking you to marry her. Good day, Commodore."

The commodore nodded once and watched as the governor got into the carriage beside Carly. She looked away from him and avoided eye contact as they pulled away from the jail and made their way to Will and Elizabeth's home.

-----

Governor Swann entered his mansion with Carly following not far behind. "While you're staying here I'd like for you not to break anything or destroy anything, and I ask that you don't go wandering about the place looking for ways to get yourself into trouble."

Carly looked around the foyer and up towards the ceiling at the chandelier, barely listening to a word he said.

"Do you understand?" he asked, annoyed that she wasn't paying attention to him.

She looked away from the chandelier and turned to him. "You could've left me locked up and saved yourself the trouble."

The governor looked at her for a moment almost as if he felt guilty. He saw one of the maids walking by and stopped her. "Would you show this young lady to one of the guest rooms please? And if you could find her a nightdress and help her wash up as well."

"Yes, Governor." The maid curtseyed and led Carly up the stairs.

-----

Rae and Jack sat beside each other against the wall of their jail cell. Rae sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Jack,"

"Aye."

"Do you remember the last time we were locked in a cell together?"

"I do not."

"It was your fault," she reminded him.

"Is that so?"

"It is." She smiled and looked up at him. "Remember the time you tried to commandeer your own ship?"

Jack smiled, remembering that time all too well. "And if I'm not mistaken, it was you who once tried to fire an unloaded pistol."

"It was a bluff."

"Yet you pulled the trigger several times."

Rae laughed and thought of Carly and her faulty pistol. "I'll never forget Carly and her pistol. I can't help but feel sorry for her, being engaged to Norrington and all."

"Happens to the best of us, love."

"I don't really believe that she wants to stay here…It's a shame we couldn't take her with us."

"Mm." Jack replied, noncommittally. He began to examine his fingernails.

Rae looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Mm."

"Mm?"

"_Mm_m."

"Eh?"

"Aye."

Rae gave up on trying to get a more specific response out of him and settled back down against his shoulder. "Jack…what are we going to do?"

"What do ye mean, love?"

"Once we leave Port Royal. A ship cannot have two captains."

"It won't. I'll be the captain and ye'll swab the deck."

"Oh, I think not."

"Alright then. You can be the designated wench instead."

"Jack!" She pushed him playfully as if she were offended while he laughed to himself. "And you used to be such a…well no, come to think of it you never were a gentleman."

"I'm gentle."

"Hm…Jack,"

"Aye?"

"Where is my ship?"

"Corcova**." **

She sat up at once. "You left my ship in _Corcova_?" she asked, stressing each word.

"There's only one Jack to go around, darling, I couldn't have very well captained the Pearl _and _the Contentious at the time."

"Well, Mr. Sparrow, you'd better hope it's still there safe and sound tomorrow. Otherwise I'm claiming the Pearl and making you _my _wench."

-----

"Good morning," Murtogg smiled at the two pirates as Mullroy unlocked the cell.

"Come along now, we've been ordered to escort you to your ship," spoke Mullroy.

"I think we're quite capable of handling it ourselves," Rae said.

"Orders are orders, miss," Murtogg replied. "Your swords and such," he motioned towards their weapons that were by the wall next to the stairway. Rae rolled her eyes as she and Jack grabbed their weapons. She saw Carly's sword and pistol still there, and decided to grab those as well. The two navy men led them to the docks, keeping a close watch on Jack since they knew they could never be too careful around him.

When they reached the docks, Mullroy handed the keys to the brig to Jack. "Courtesy of Commodore Norrington, Mr. Sparrow,"

"Ah. Well gentlemen, this is the day that you will always remember as the day that--"

Rae cut him off and grabbed his arm. "Come on Jack, we don't have time for this. Let's go."

-----

Carly was seated in a chair against the wall with her hands clasped together in her lap. Her eyes were fixed on the bed across from her where there was a gold and cream colored dress laid out for her. She was hardly aware that Elizabeth was in the same room being fitted for her wedding dress with the help of three maids.

"You've cleaned up nicely," Elizabeth was saying to her. "I almost didn't recognize you without all that dirt." She looked over at Carly, wondering why she was being so quiet. "Do you like your dress, Carly?"

"Yes," she answered, not looking up from the bed.

Elizabeth thought that maybe Carly's peculiar behavior was due to being forced into an arranged marriage with the commodore. She remembered when she had been in Carly's place, although the circumstances had been quite different. Still, she thought Carly was acting entirely too grim for the situation. "It isn't all that bad. Commodore Norrington is a fine man, you should be thankful that you are engaged to a military man." She didn't fully believe was she was saying to Carly; she had never desired to marry the commodore, and had only agreed to it to save her current fiancé. She supposed it didn't help matters that Carly embodied almost everything Norrington stood against, namely the fact that she was a pirate.

"Yes, of course."

"You aren't required to love him. But you must pretend to. My father has only arranged for you to marry him so that…"

"So that no one will know who I really am, I know. I'll pretend to be a lady. I'll wear a dress and only speak when spoken to. That's the proper thing to do, isn't it?"

"You should be grateful that my father didn't sentence you to hang. Will and I defended you, and so did Rae and Jack." Carly's eyes seemed to flash at the mention of Jack's name. "We saved your life and you aren't the least bit happy."

"I am. I'm happy that no one trusts me, and that everyone in this house watches my every move as if they expect me to pull a pistol on them at any given moment."

"You can't expect anyone to trust you. You're a pirate,"

"You trust Captain Sparrow and Captain Rae, and you're marrying a blacksmith who's just as much of a pirate as I am, when it is you, in fact, who should be marrying Commodore Norrington, and yet you can't even trust _me_."

"You miss Jack, don't you," Elizabeth said, coming to the realization that he was likely one of the main reasons Carly was upset. This seemed to catch Carly by surprise.

"Yes, I do."

"Was it his impressive sword fighting skills, or all the uh…" Elizabeth put her hands out and impersonated an insane and drunken Jack, "…that made him steal your heart?"

Carly smiled at Elizabeth's imitation of Jack. "He won't be coming back, will he…"

"Perhaps he's just waiting for the opportune moment."

-----

Later that evening, Governor Swann went up to Carly's bedroom. His intentions were to lecture her about being on her best ladylike behavior the next day at Elizabeth's wedding. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but stopped when he heard what sounded like sobbing. He couldn't help but feel bad for her, and decided not to disturb her.


	23. Cake, Knives, and Goodbyes

Chapter Twenty-Three – Cake, Knives, and Goodbyes

Carly stirred when she heard the sound of someone pounding on the door and calling her name. She knew she couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out who was calling her name. Although it was certainly a man's voice, it was neither Will nor Jack. It was then that she noticed she was quite still, and not rocking back and forth like she would have been on a ship. She swore and shut her eyes tight when she realized that the previous day hadn't been a dream, but a harsh reality.

"Carly! Carly, are you awake?" the governor called, still rapping on the door.

"Yes, I hear you!" Carly yelled, looking to her nightstand for something to throw at the door.

Governor Swann opened the door and entered with two maids before she could get her hand around the candleholder. "Get up, we haven't time to dawdle." He threw back the curtains on the window, allowing the bright morning light to fill the room. He turned to the maids, exasperated. "Dress her! And do something with her hair."

"My hair? What're you going to do to my hair?" she asked, shielding her eyes from the sun while the maids pulled her out of bed and dressed her behind the screen.

"Anything will be an improvement," he answered. "Now, this is a very important day, you understand. Do _not _ruin it. Stand up straight and don't speak unless you are spoken to, and if the occasion arises that you are required to speak – heaven forbid – then you will simply agree with Commodore Norrington on the subject. You are to dance with him, and _only _him – "

She gasped and cursed at the maids as they laced her corset, showing no sympathy for her. "Dance with _him?" _

"Surely you've learned to dance,"

"Dancing with Commodore Norrington is an entirely different matter from dancing with a man," she choked out, feeling her insides being squeezed closer and closer together with every merciless tug of the laces on her corset.

"Yes, well I imagine dancing with Commodore Norrington would be a fairly new experience for you if I am correct in assuming that the only men you have ever had the pleasure of dancing with are pirates. I can only hope that you will be a lady and not make a spectacle of yourself. How's the dress coming?"

"I can't breathe."

"Good."

-----

Commodore Norrington stood beside Carly and rolled his eyes when she attempted to hide a yawn behind her fan. The change in her physical appearance had not had much of an impact on her behavior, he thought, besides the fact that she had been squirming uncomfortably in her dress all morning. She may have passed for a lady while she was dressed in proper clothes and had her hair neatly curled, but she was still just a pirate in a nice dress. To further prove his point, Carly chose that moment to look down at her cleavage and try to adjust her bodice so that at least a couple parts of her could breathe. She began to wave her fan furiously on her face in an effort to cool off, and then she proceeded to lift her dress to her knees and wave the fan under there as well. Disgusted as he was, Norrington felt his cheeks blushing ever so slightly. He turned his attention instead to Elizabeth and Will, who were dancing with each other.

Governor Swann approached the commodore and cleared his throat. "Perhaps you should ask her to dance before she gives someone a heart attack?"

Norrington looked as if the governor had just asked him to sever an appendage and serve it to Carly on a silver platter. "Dance with her?"

"Yes. _Now_."

The commodore turned to Carly and grudgingly extended his hand to her. "May I have this dance?" he asked, as if the words burned his throat.

"No, any sudden movements and something might pop out of my dress," she said. "Terribly sorry."

"You're embarrassing yourself, not to mention the governor and _me_. Dance with me and consider it a favor."

Carly was offended and looked somewhat less than willing to dance with him, or to be within a hundred feet of him for that matter. Nevertheless, she did accept his hand, which only made her think more of her impending doom. The two began to do a basic box step, each of them thinking of places they would rather be and things they would rather be doing.

Dancing nearby were Will and Elizabeth, who looked considerably happier than Carly and the commodore. Will looked up at the sky when a flash of bright blue and yellow wings caught his eye. Elizabeth followed his line of sight and smiled when she recognized the bird.

"You're stepping on my feet," Norrington grumbled to Carly.

"Your feet are in my way," she replied.

"Did it ever cross your mind that perhaps _your _feet are in _my _way?"

Will approached the unhappy pair and cleared his throat. "May I interrupt?"

"Please," Carly said, gratefully.

"Be my guest. Watch your toes; she'll trample you with her abnormally large feet." Norrington handed his partner over to Will and went to join Elizabeth for a dance.

"So Mr. Turner, how does it feel to be joined in holy matrimony with your one true love, to have and to hold for all eternity, to share cold, lonely nights with – "

"Look," he interrupted her, nodding his head toward the bird that was circling above Commodore Norrington and Elizabeth.

Carly's eyes lit up when she saw the blue and yellow feathers. "Mr. Cotton's parrot!" Her expression changed from that of excitement to one of shock and amusement when she saw the parrot's droppings land on Norrington's shoulder. Norrington yelled and looked angrily up at the sky as the bird flew away.

Suddenly the ladies shrieked when none other than Jack Sparrow appeared, followed by Captain Rae with her sword in hand. Jack stuck his finger in the frosting of the cake and ate it. "Excellent cake," he yelled, grinning.

"Jack!" Elizabeth smiled.

Governor Swann stared open-mouthed at the pirate as he ate the frosting off his finger. Momentarily at a loss for words, he motioned at the Navy men. "Shoot them!" he ordered finally.

Jack's smile faded, and in one swift move he grabbed Elizabeth by the shoulders and held her in front of him as a human shield. Rae breathed a sigh of relief when the men held their fire as she stood behind Jack for protection. "You look lovely by the way," he said to Elizabeth, holding his pistol to her head.

She smiled, knowing that he had no intention of harming her. "I'm glad you made it Jack,"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, love. Looking forward to the wedding night I imagine?"

Rae looked to the nearest Navy man while Jack and Elizabeth chatted. She smiled at the man and winked, causing him to lower his gun a bit and gulp uncomfortably.

Will felt uneasy with so many guns pointed at his wife. He looked over at the commodore, who was no more comfortable with the situation than he.

"Jack Sparrow," Governor Swann looked at the pirate, disgustedly.

"Captain," Jack corrected.

"I do believe I've given you too many chances. This is the last time you'll ever step foot on solid ground again."

Jack smirked. "Aye, yes. But you see, you wouldn't dare let any harm come to Lizzie 'ere, would ye?"

The governor opened his mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. Carly stepped out in front of Elizabeth, facing the governor. Jack gave her a questioning look, which she smiled at as if she had a plan.

"How about I go with Jack and Rae, to end all of this of course," she spoke as if she wasn't doing it for herself. "They promise never to return to Port Royal, and then you'll be rid of all your troubles."

"That sounds splendid if ye ask me," Jack spoke up, leaning over Elizabeth's shoulder.

The governor thought for a moment. "Alright." This caused Commodore Norrington to smile at Carly for the first time.

Elizabeth turned around to face Jack. "You do know he has no intention of letting you go, right?" she said so that only he could hear.

Jack nodded and watched as Carly and Elizabeth traded places. He then nodded at the governor. "Pleasure doing business with you, governor." Jack stole one last taste of frosting as he and the others began to walk towards the docks. Governor Swann nodded at the Royal Navy to begin firing on them.

"Now we run," Rae said to the others.

The governor looked at his men, "Follow them!"

Jack looked back at Carly dragging behind them. "Nice dress. Take it off,"

"Alright," she said, a little too eagerly. She didn't need to be told twice by Jack to take her clothing off. He helped her finagle her way out of her dress as they ran through the water to the ship. As they grabbed onto the ropes on the side of the ship, Jack yelled back to Governor Swann and the Navy men.

"Gentlemen, my lady," he motioned towards Elizabeth who had also followed, "this is the day you will always remember as the day that--"

"Jack!" Rae shouted. "We don't have time for this."

Norrington watched the despicable sight as Jack Sparrow and the two girls escaped, one of them in her nightdress. He looked at the bird droppings on his shoulder, disgusted.

-----

Carly made herself as comfortable as her hammock would allow below the deck of the Contentious. She looked around at the men that she'd been forced to share sleeping quarters with; although Rae had assured her that they wouldn't bite, she didn't fancy taking any chances. She made sure to put her hand on her pistol before closing her eyes, and soon began to dream…

_Carly was running through the jungle and suddenly came to a halt. She looked blindly around for any signs of Jack, Rae, or Will, but her searching was in vain. It was so dark that she could hardly see her hand in front of her face, and the sweltering heat around her felt heavy on her skin. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she tried to concentrate on anything besides Rae's warning that repeated itself again and again in her mind: Here be monsters. A gasp escaped from her mouth when someone grabbed her forcefully by the shoulders. _

"_We've been looking for ye,"_

"_Jack, I'm lost." _

"_Didn't I tell you to make your boot into a lobster trap?" _

"_What?"_

"_Shh." He pressed his finger to her mouth to silence her and looked up expectantly, as if he'd heard something. Carly fixed her eyes on his chest and stood very still, not daring to make any noise that might let their whereabouts be known. She briefly caught a glint of gold and jewels in Jack's vest. He put his hand to the side of her neck, and with the other hand he caressed her cheek. The next moment he was leaning over the side of a boat and holding her head underwater as she struggled to get free. She dug her nails into his forearms and tried desperately to break free of his grasp, but he was too strong. With every yell she swallowed more water, until suddenly someone pulled her from the water. She coughed and gasped for air and opened her eyes just long enough to see that it was no longer Jack who had a hold of her – it was Captain Snarl. He held onto her head by her hair with one hand and with the other he raised his knife to slit her throat. _

Carly jumped and opened her eyes when a bucket of cold water was dumped on her. Surrounding her were several members of Captain Rae's crew, and one of them held a bucket in one hand and a mop in the other.

"Time to get up, your majesty. That is, if ye've had yer beauty sleep," spoke the bucket-bearing man. Some of the men agreed and made rude comments, while the others laughed. Carly glared at them and wiped the stinking water from her face. She didn't appreciate having a bucket of dirty water thrown on her. "It's tradition to 'av the whores swab the deck,"

"Since when?"

"Since this morning. Get to it," he ordered, thrusting the bucket and mop at her.

"If Rae knew that you – "

"Captain's orders!" he growled at her.

She made her way above deck, still fussing over the rude awakening, and the stench. "This is lovely. I smell like – "

"It's nice of you to join us, Miss Carly," said Rae as she approached.

"Hm."

"Sorry if you're not used to having to work, but you can't stay on my ship without having some responsibilities."

"The work I can handle, it's your men that exhaust me."

Rae laughed and went to the side of the ship while Carly got to work. "I'm sure they'll come to terms with having a second female on board soon enough. Hope you don't mind their company,"

"Oh no, not at all. I rather enjoy the smell of dung," Carly responded with sarcasm. She carried on swabbing the deck and chatting with Rae until she hit something with her mop. It was some sort of dagger covered in mud and sand. She stared at it for a moment, and then dropped the mop on the deck and kneeled down to pick up a dirtied knife. Upon wiping off the caked-on gunk and revealing the dagger, the color drained from her face. "Rae?"

"Yes?"

"What happened to the knife? Snarl's knife…did you take it?"

"No, of course not. I should think it's at the bottom of the ocean along with his decaying body and his ship, where they belong."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…" Rae went to Carly's side to see what had prompted such a question, and there in Carly's hand was a double-bladed knife with a bejeweled handle. It was quite a beautiful blade, actually.

**Author's Note-**

Finally, it's complete! It's only taken...forever. Now Jen and I shall focus on _Overcoming Complications_, and maybe_ Reality Check_. If you haven't read either of those, please do check them out. Thanks for reading. If you're interested in the TV show Supernatural, I currently have a finished story for that show. _Rachel._


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